A Jefferson Man Faces A Felony OWI Following An Accident
A Jefferson man faces several charges following an accident on Monday.
Police Chief Dave Morlan says at 1:08pm, 29 year-old Ricardo Rodriguez was waiting for his girlfriend at a bank in the 100 block of State Street and climbed over to the driver’s seat and took off in a 2008 Toyota Corolla. He was traveling westbound when he hit a parked 1995 Ford F-250 pickup truck that’s owned by Raccoon Valley Lawn & Handyman Services. There was $500 in damages to the pickup and no damage done to the Corolla. No one was hurt in the incident.
A Greene County Deputy was on scene and conducted the initial investigation. Morlan states that the deputy detected alcohol on Rodriguez’s breath and when the breathalyzer malfunctioned the first time, Rodriquez refused to take another test. Due to the suspicion of alcohol, the deputy arrested the accused. Morlan appreciates the help that the deputy provided during the incident.
Rodriguez is charged with a Class D Felony for his third offense for operating while under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanors for failure to maintain control, failure to have a valid license to operate a motor vehicle and child endangerment due to a two year-old that was in the back seat when the accident happened.
He was booked into the Greene County Jail and has since been released.
Churdan Man Sentenced In Greene County, Stands Trial In Boone County
A Churdan man has been sentenced in connection to a driving-related death.
According court documents, 21 year-old Larry Varnell was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to a driving while barred charge from last September. He was also ordered to pay $218.75 in surcharges. All other charges were dropped.
The sentence stems from an investigation relating to the death of 20 year-old Aaron Beaman of Jefferson. Law enforcement officials found his body in the 600 block of L Avenue in Boone County after he was killed in a one-vehicle crash.
Varnell has also pled guilty to his Class D Felony charge from Boone County for providing alcohol to a minor resulting in death. Jefferson Police Officer Heath Enns works part time for both the Greene and Boone County Sheriff’s offices and has been helping with the investigation. He says alcohol containers were found around Beaman’s body. Beaman had allegedly been with Varnell the day of the accident.
Varnell will stand trial at the Boone County Courthouse on February 27th. A Class D Felony is punishable up to five years in prison.
Greene County Sheriff’s Office Releases 2014 Statistics
The Greene County Sheriff’s office recently released its statistics from 2014.
Sheriff Steve Haupert says they responded to 2,080 calls for service throughout the county, which is about 5.69 calls per day. Haupert adds that 260 calls-or 12.5%-were animal-related. Since they hired a part-time animal control person, more people have been following animal laws of their respective towns.
“I have found it very beneficial and basically it’s a teaching tool for those in the towns that, hey, we do have to register our dog and they have to be on a leash, they can’t run at large. And so it was kind of a learning experience.”
The Sheriff’s office has 28E agreements with six towns in which they are the primary law enforcement agency. Of the 2,080 calls, 828 were in each of the contracted towns. 44% were in Grand Junction, 23.2% were in Scranton, next was Churdan with 16.9%, Rippey made up 7%, Paton was 6.2% and Dana was at 2.7%.
As for the county jail, there were increases in 2014. Total number of inmates was up eight from 2013 to 360 in 2014. There was a dramatic increase in the number of hours that the inmates served. In 2014, there was a total of 59,810 hours compared to 41,188 hours in 2013. Haupert notes that most of the increase is from individuals who were probation violators. The total number of meals also increased from 4,701 in 2013 to 6,035 in 2014.
Finally, the K-9 statistics were also released for 2014. K-9 Leo helped to recover $35,830 in estimated street value of drugs. He helped seize over 14 pounds of marijuana, 5.5 ounces of meth and three grams of cocaine. Leo has been involved in 87 vehicle searches and the Sheriff’s office has used the K-9 for tracking five individuals or fleeing criminals.
Jefferson Woman Sentenced For Drugs
A Jefferson woman was sentenced last month on a felony drug charge.
The Clerk of Court’s office says 33 year-old Heather Thelma Ott pled guilty to a Class C Felony for her second offense for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine. She had her ten-year prison sentence suspended and was ordered to five-years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $125 to the Law Enforcement Initiative plus Greene County Sheriff’s office and other court costs.
The charge stems from an executed search warrant on November 15, 2013 when authorities recovered stolen property and narcotic-related items in the 400 block of North Olive Street in Jefferson.
A second suspect, 41 year-old Frederick James Lonsdale of Rippey is being held at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale and is awaiting his trial date. He is charged with felonies for possession of meth and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and other misdemeanors for drugs.
Two Semi-Truck Accidents Cause Major Vehicle Damage In Greene County
The Greene County Sheriff’s office responded to two semi-tractor trailer accidents on Thursday morning.
Sheriff Steve Haupert says at 7:45am, two semi-tractor trailers side swiped each other on US Highway 30 near X Avenue. 31 year-old Jeremiah Isaiah Green of Lake City was heading east on Highway 30 when his semi, that was owned by Koster Grain of Carroll, crossed the center line and hit a westbound semi-tractor trailer that was driven by 45 year-old Aaron Donald Twedt of Ellsworth. Koster Grain’s semi sustained $10,000 in damages to the side of the truck and the other semi that was owned by SansGaard Group of Story City sustained $20,000 in damages to both the semi-tractor and trailer. Green was cited for driving on the wrong side of a two way highway.
The second accident happened less than an hour later on Iowa Highway 144 near 215th Street. Haupert states that at 8:32am, 61 Eugene Dwyane Davis of Grand Junction was traveling south in a semi-tractor trailer, that was owned by Bauer Built and hauling a John Deere planter ,when he side swiped another semi-tractor trailer that was heading north and driven by 61 year-old Timothy Ray Cummings of Grand Junction. Minor damage was done to Cummings’ self-owned semi.
Haupert reminds everyone to stay alert for oncoming traffic when there’s narrow roads due to ice and snow on the shoulders.
“There is a chance that your oncoming traffic, you need to be aware they’re going to be driving close to center (line). So, until we get some heat and warmer weather to push the snow off the shoulders, we need to be aware of that oncoming traffic and drive defensively.”
No one was hurt in either accident.