The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1475203
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 3, 2022 A-5 Skyler Dane Benefiel, 22, of 1707 W. Division Road, Petersburg, son of Michael Benefiel and Brandy Benefiel to Brooke Tyalor Murfin, 22, of 610 N. Hart St., Princeton, daughter of Jaycen Murfin and Amanda Murfin. Brandon Keith Mehringer, 24, of 2141 N. Grant St., Ot- well, son of Brian Mehringer and Tammy Jones to Baley Nacole Gabhart, 24, of 6698 S. 1050E, Loogootee daughter of Phillip Gabhart and Jennifer Gabhart. Brandon L. Harvey, 48, of 163 N. Whitelock Ave., Petersburg, son of Tony L Harvey and Deb- orah Harvey to Jenny E. Def- fendoll, 35, of 163 N. Whitelock Ave., Petersburg, daughter of Michael L. Deffendoll and Lor- raine J. Deffendoll. ROYALTY REUNION The Royalty Reunion will be Sunday, Aug. 14, at Jordan Memorial Park in Spurgeon. Dinner is planned for 1 p.m. EDT. Table ser vice and cold drinks will be provided. Plan to attend and bring a main dish, a side and/or dessert. Tell family members who may not see this notice. All family and friends are welcome. Standalone Heading According to Petersburg Police Chief Kyle Mills, 56 tickets have been written for detour violations in the Meadowbrook subdivision, with more tickets being written almost daily. On Thursday, July 21, a truck driver with A&M Carrier, Inc. was stuck inside the subdivision at 4:30 p.m. Mills said more violations and tickets were issued over the weekend. Each ticket carries a $1000 fine. Luella White celebrates 100th birthday Luella White celebrat- ed her 100th birthday on July 30, at Bethel Memo- rial Church in Princeton. Cards may be sent to: 719 E. State Street, Princeton, IN 47670. treatment plant and into the equalization basin. Elmore said it appears to have been cause by a light- ning strike. It happened last Sunday night during a strong storm that hit the area. Now it is having to be "basi- cally manually." Mayor R. C. Klipsch said the 2 million gallon equalization basin filled to the top during the nearly six inches of rain the area received in two days. The equalization basin acts as a buffer for the sew- age treatment plant, holding excess flow into the system during peak times, until the treatment plant can catch up. Elmore said because of sup- ply chain problems they don't expect to be able to get a re- placement for the unit until December. "No!" said Mayor Klipsch. Elmore said city personnel worked all day tr ying to get it fixed and working manually. He said the equalization basin was near the top of its capac- ity, but since has fallen about three to four feet. "We are still running the treatment plant at maximum capacity," said Elmore. He said they ran the Head- works building on a diesel generator for 46 hours. "What can we do to prevent this? asked City Councilman John Melhiser. Elmore said they are look- ing into possible problems. Melhiser said when the Pike County Jail was built next to his ser vice station on Main St. they installed a large an- tenna tower and it was hit by lightning, damaging several nearby businesses. He said they found there was problem with the tower's grounding. "There is some protec- tion, but apparently it wasn't enough," said Elmore. he said they were looking at the cause. He also said the Head- works, building had not been turned over from the contrac- tor to the city. Mayor Klipsch said the city went ahead and insured it any- way, so they should be cov- ered either way. Elmore said it is about an $8,000 unit and suggested they get a second spare con- trol unit so if it happens again they can make the change in hours instead of months. The council voted 5-0 to pass a resolution allowing Pe- tersburg to make electronic transmissions of fund to con- tractors. "It is something we have been doing for a while," said Mayor Klipsch. He said Clerk-Treasurer Tammy Sel- by just learned the city needs to pass a resolution authoriz- ing it. Petersburg Police Chief Kyle Mills said the two new police hires, Chase Dotter we- ich and Tony Neal, are in the process of taking their pre-ba- sic 40-hour training class. He said they should complete it Thursday. Once completed, they can be on duty. He said officer Taylor Def- fendoll starts her session at the Indiana Police Academy on August 29. In other business, Mayor Klipsch announced the Buf- falo Trace Festival will be a music festival this year on Sat- urday, September 24. He said because of all the construction in the downtown area it will not be on Main St. and there will be no rides this year. Instead it will be a music festival with vendors, and be located on Eighth and Walnut Sts. near the courthouse. The next City Council meet- ing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 15. COUNCIL Continued from page 1 Area Reunion Marriage Licenses Petersburg man arrested for possession of marijuana and pills By Sherri Sebella News Editor sherri@pressdispatch.net A traffic stop on Thursday, July 21 led to an arrest for marijuana and pills. Petersburg Police Officer Chad McClellan stopped Jason Houchins, 33, Petersburburg, for running a red light in Petersburg. McClellan stopped the vehicle and noticed the license plates had expired. According to a probable cause filed, McClellan noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Houchins denied having any mari- juana in the vehicle but said he had smoked marijuana earlier in the car. McClellan searched Houchins and founde he had a vape and package of THC gummies in his pocket and a small cylinder case that Houchins claimed contained a Xanax pill. Houch- ins said he did not have a prescription for Xanax but kept it for his anxiety. During a search of Houchins' vehi- cle, McClellan located a small burnt cigarette containing green leafy ma- terial that field tested positive for marijuana. Houchins was issued a summons for both the marijuana and the con- trolled substance. Petersburg woman charged with OVWI and failure to stop By James Capozella Press-Dispatch news news@pressdispatch.net A two-car accident at the Edge- wood apartments on Whitelock Ave. on July 20 resulted in the arrest of Traci L ynn Reddington, 34, 154 N Whitelock Ave, #20, Petersburg, for OVWI refusal and failure to stop at a property damage accident. Dispatch advised that a white four door Pontiac was traveling east- bound on Pike Ave. and shortly af- ter, Deputy Kane Osgatharp radioed Petersburg Police Sgt. Paul Collier that the Pontiac was northbound on Main past the security center. After the vehicle went left of cen- ter, Collier stopped the car. The driv- er denied hitting anything. Collier saw fresh damage to the front pas- senger bumper. He noticed that she had slurred speech and poor manual dexterity. Reddington said she was on a new anti-depressant according to the report. When she exited the vehicle she had to use the car door to steady herself. When asked for identifica- tion she could not get the driver side door open and had to get her purse from the passenger side. Redding- ton failed three field sobriety tests. During the vehicle inventor y by Deputy Kane Osgatharp, an empty bottle of Trazadone was located that had been filled on 6/22/22 with 30 pills. There was also Vilazodone, Quetiapine, 800mg Ibuprofen and Gabapentin. Reddington was transported to Daviess Community Hospital for a blood sample and then taken to the Pike County Jail. Petersburg officer Taylor Deffendoll provided a volun- tar y statement by Patricia Wornica that Reddington's vehicle drove be- tween two vehicles and hit a red car. She was charged with OVWI and failure to stop for a proper ty dam- age accident. Freeman cited for driving suspended By James Capozella Press-Dispatch news news@pressdispatch.net Donnell T. Freeman, 35, 8595 Old Blairsville Rd, Unit 3B, Wadesville, was cited with a summons on July 22 by Indiana State Trooper Casey Boeckman for driving while sus- pended with a prior. Boeckman was on routine patrol on I-69 near mile marker 47 when he obser ved a car traveling south- bound at 97 miles per hour. A BMV check by Boeckman found Freeman was suspended in- definitely. He was issued a summons with a court date of August 23 and released. A passenger with a valid license took control of the vehicle. Kokomo man charged with sexual misconduct after kissing teen at Circle A in Otwell By Sherri Sebella News Editor sherri@pressdispatch.net On Sunday, July 14, the Pike County Sheriff's Department re- ceived a call from workers at Cir- cle A in Otwell concerning a suspi- cious male, later identified as Joe D. Duquette, 37, in the store who had inappropriately touched and kissed his daughter. Prior to arrival at Circle A, Police made a search of the area for the vehicle that workers had described, along with the plate number, but were unable to locate it. A check of the license plate returned to a Koko- mo, Indiana resident Police went to Circle A and spoke to workers who were present during the incident. They said Duquette had entered the store and asked if there was a public restroom because his daughter needed to use it. An- other worker told their manager that Duquette came back into the store with his daughter, holding her hand. Workers watched cameras in the store and said Duquette and his daughter went into separate re- strooms, but when they came out, Duquette started kissing and touch- ing the girl "in a way a person would never touch their daughter," accord- ing to workers. Workers told Police that the girl looked no older than 15 years old and appeared ver y uncom- fortable. Police watched the camera foot- age and verified that the information given by workers at Circle A was true. They obser ved another woman enter the bathroom after Duquette and his daughter, whose vehicle plate came back registered to the vehicle Duquette was in. Police contacted the Indiana De- partment of Child Ser vices (DCS) hotline and made a report through both Pike and Howard Counties, where the vehicle was registered. Police then called the Howard Coun- ty DCS and inquired if they had pre- vious incidents with the registered owner of the car Duquette was in, or Duquette himself. Howard Coun- ty DCS was able to provide a phone number for the owner of the vehicle. Howard County DCS told Police that they had contacted the driver of the car and that they had received a report of an incident at the Circle A in Otwell. The owner of the car said they had gone to Holiday World and stopped at the gas station to use the restroom, but that she had no knowl- edge of anything that happened there. The owner of the vehicle contact- ed Police and said she wanted to speak with them about the incident. The owner arrived at the Police sta- tion with her mother and daughter, and was brought to the inter view room. Before starting, the owner of the vehicle wanted to make sure ev- er ything was recorded. The owner of the vehicle Duquette was in said Duquette and the victim had gone into the store before she did. She claimed she did not know what happened while she was in the restroom at the time of the incident. When asked who all was in the vehicle, the owner said she and her husband were in the front seat and in the backseat was Duquette, his girlfriend and the victim. Police asked the victim what hap- pened and she said Duquette had leaned down and kissed her. Police asked if anything else happened and the victim stated that Duquette grabbed her hand and was squeez- ing her hand really tight but she did not say no because she was really uncomfortable. The owner of the car Duquette was in, told Police that when DCS spoke to the victim, she told them Duquette had kissed her a few times in Howard County. The driver also said there was an incident that hap- pened at Holiday World. The victim said Duquette had touched her inap- propriately in the wave pool. Police pulled a screen shot of Duquette from the video and the owner of the vehicle confirmed it was Duquette. Police contacted the Kokomo Po- lice and advised them of the case and all the information they had. Ko- komo Police said they would open a case and refer it to their detectives. Duquette was charged with Child Molesting at least 21 with a child under 14 years of age. 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