The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1333807
B-2 Wednesday, Januar y 27, 2021 The Press-Dispatch Pair arrested on multiple charges for converter thefts By James Capozella Two men were arrested Friday for auto theft, theft and criminal mischief (over $750) following a report from Mike Christmas at the Buchta Trucking Lot in Otwell. Dispatch received a call from Christmas regarding missing catalytic converters and damage to vehicles by two men who he had told to leave. Deputies Cody Jones and Jared Simmons investigat- ed the complaint and were informed that the two men seen earlier were going to be at the Buchta Trucking Lot in Petersburg to return a sawzall belonging to Kaleb Bolin's fa- ther, who works for Buchta, according to the report. Kaleb Bolin, 19, of 733 S CR 175 E., Winslow, and Der- ek Collins, 19, of 1807 N. CR 825 W., Hazelton, were con- tacted in Petersburg by depu- ties, according to Deputy Jar- ed Simmons. It was learned that the two were cutting exhaust systems on a Ford F-150 and an Explor- er, according to the report. One had the catalytic convert- er removed, with the exhaust system lying on the ground. Four sawzall blades were re- covered from the vehicle they were using, through a consent- ed search by deputies. Depu- ty Simmons reported that the written consent to search was given by Amy Sisk, the owner of the vehicle. The two were asked what they were doing to the vehi- cles and both reported they were trying to get manifolds or intakes for another vehi- cle. Asked why they did not get permission, both Collins and Bolin said they thought it was okay since Bolin's dad worked for the company, ac- cording to the report. By Andy Heuring Anson Farm Services has purchased the grain eleva- tor in Winslow. It was most recently operated by ADM Growmark, but has been in Winslow for decades, at least back to the 1970s. It was origi- nally Harrison Grain Elevator and had the capability to load grain directly into rail cars. It is located between Beardsley St. and the railroad tracks. A similar elevator was built in Monroe City, also by Bill Har- rison. Anson Farm Services pur- chased that elevator in 2005 and then, in October of last year, bought the Winslow site as well. Tom Anson said adding the Winslow site creates sever- al opportunities for them. He said, last fall the crops were so good they ran out of stor- age, so they purchased the Winslow facility. They weren't really ready to purchase grain from others at the facility yet on a large scale. "We took some grain from people we know." But they intend to start buying corn, beans and milo soon. "Right now we are on an appointment-only basis," said Anson, but they hope to be open typical hours soon. Anson said they hope to be able to provide a closer facility for area farmers to haul their grain. He said they also of- fer the convenience of longer hours. "A lot of the larger ele- vators only stay open until 5 or 6 p.m. In the winter time, we have shorter hours, but when the crops start coming out of the field, we are there almost all the time." Nathan Andrews will be the manager of the Winslow facility and they will be hir- ing one or two part-time peo- ple to help. Anson said the facility was originally built with the in- tent to use rail and Harrison did load directly to rail. How- ever, those facilities haven't been used in years and are out-of-date. "We will be truck- ing grain in and out of here," said Anson. The Ansons are multi-gen- erational farmers. He said his grandfather, John, and his fa- ther, Mike, farmed together. Now Anson Farms is made up of Mike, Tom and Tom's brother-in law, Ben Singleton. He said they originally start- ed doing livestock, then start- ed switching to grain farm- ing. "We have being farming and doing business for a long time. We have been around Pike County for years." "We are happy to buy a busi- ness in Pike County and try to satisfy our customers," said Anson. "The community has been very supportive of us." Winslow Town Council member Deb Lamb said, "I'm excited that Anson Farms has moved into the old ADM loca- tion. Anytime we can bring a new business into the county (and into Winslow) is a good thing. Furthermore, I feel like it's a real benefit to our local farmers by being able to pro- cess their goods locally." By Andy Heuring A search warrant for sto- len televisions ended up with Sara Deffendall being arrest- ed on drug, neglect and resist- ing charges last week. Sara Elizabeth Deffendall, 43 , of 877 S. CR 500 W., Pe- tersburg, was arrested on charges of neglect of a de- pendent resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 3 felony; resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor; bat- tery, no injury, victim is a pub- lic safety official, a level 6 fel- ony; possession of parapher- nalia; possession of meth less than five grams, a level 6 fel- ony; and maintaining a com- mon nuisance, a level 6 felony. Her son, Danton L. Willis, 23, was arrested on a charge of obliterating identification marks on a handgun, a level 5 felony. On January 14, Pike Coun- ty Deputy Sheriff Cody Jones obtained a search warrant for Deffendall's residence at 877 S. CR 500 W., Petersburg, to search for three stolen televi- sions. At about 4 p.m. on Wednes- day, January 20, Deputy Jones, along with other officers from the Sheriff's Department, Pe- tersburg City Police and Indi- ana State Police, went to the Deffendall residence to exe- cute the search warrant. Jones said officers surrounded the house, knocked on the door and announced they were there on a warrant. Then he, Deputy Paul Collier and Sher- iff Kent Johnson went in the back door into the kitchen ar- ea. Jones, in his report, stat- ed Deffendall "came out of the back bedroom in an ag- gressive manner toward Dep- uty Collier." All the officers, according to Jones, repeated- ly ordered Deffendall to the ground, but she refused and then was taken to the ground. He said Deffendall con- tinued to scream and curse at the officers during the search. Deputy Jones stated police found a sawed-off shot- gun with the serial numbers scratched off. Jones said Deffendall told police it belonged to her son, Danton Willis. He said once Deffendall calmed down, police moved her handcuffs to in front of her for her comfort. They then continued their search. He said they found Sara's grandmother, Mary Deffendall, on a bed in anoth- er living room. "Mary seemed to barely be breathing and did not seem to be able to talk. Mary was covered in flies and was laying in her own filth." EMS was called in to check on her and eventually took Mary to the hospital. Depu- ty Jones said EMTs told him "Mary was in very rough con- dition and needed to go to the hospital." According to Jones, the search around Sara's bed found a gray pouch with scales and pills in it, a glass smoking device, one roach in an ashtray and a pill bottle with Jarod Willis' name on the bottle. They also found a contain- er with several glass smoking devices, some broken, a mar- ijuana grinder, several more glass smoking devices that field tested positive for meth and an older gray revolver. They also found three Vizio flat screen televisions match- ing the description of the ones reported stolen from Jarod Willis. Jones said when they told Deffendall she was being ar- rested and taken into custo- dy, she began to scream and curse. She also began resist- ing and grabbed Chief Depu- ty Dallas Killian's hand and dug her finger nails into his hand, breaking the skin. He said she continued to scream as she was being transported to the Pike County Jail. The investigation into the stolen property is ongoing. Mother, son arrested on theft, drug, neglect charges pening in the future. She said Walgreens and CVS have been contracted to handle the long- term care facility vaccines. Pike County has been at the highest red level rating for several weeks. Last week, it was still just above 15 per- cent. But it has since dropped to 10 percent. Consequently, it might be lowered to the or- ange level on Wednesday of this week when those chang- es are made. Three weeks ago, all but a handful of counties continued to be in the red in Indiana. As of Tuesday, less than 35 coun- ties remained at the red lev- el, with several more possibly being lowered on Wednesday. In Pike County, there has not been a COVID death since December 31, when the 26th death was reported. The number of new deaths is continuing to fall in Indi- ana. The all-time high was 97 on December 11. That fell to 66 on January 7, 40 on Janu- ary 12 and 32 on January 25. The number of new cases in Indiana is falling at simi- lar rates. On January 7, there were 7,231 new cases in Indi- ana, that dropped to 3,679 on January 20 and 1,775 on Jan- uary 25. Hospitalizations in Indiana dropped below 2,000 on Janu- ary 25 for the first time since November 4, when there were 1,948. It eventually peaked at 3,460 on November 30. Since then, hospitalizations have steadily fallen. On January 11, there were 2,515 people in In- diana hospitals with COVID, that dropped to 2,332 on Jan- uary 18 and 1,976 on January 25. "We are seeing things mov- ing in the right direction. I want to caution people to con- tinue to wear their masks and social distance. 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Perry ' s Perry ' s 303 Breckinridge Rd, Monroe City Email: perryshvac@gmail.com Craig Perry Vance Perry Chase Perry Roadside Assistance SAME DAY SERVICE • Complete plastic lab on premises • Quality eyewear by Karen Memering, Optician • Professional eyecare by Dr. Steve Gregory • Most insurance plans accepted WE FILL ALL DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTIONS Complete Contact Lens Care & Service *In most cases **Some restrictions apply. Call for details. 812-254-6594 Corner of Hwy. 50 & 57, Washington, IN VALLEY OPTICAL 812-254-6594 Anson Farms purchases former ADM elevator in Winslow Anson Farms Services owners Mike Anson, Tom Anson and Operations Manager Nathan Andrews stand in front of the grain elevator they purchased late last fall in Winslow. They are taking grain by appointment only now, but in the near future, plan to start openly accepting grain. Anyone interested in selling corn, beans or mi- lo can call Nathan Andrews at 812-309-0178 or Tom 812-890-6105.