Man charged after allegedly stealing from Butler County police headquarters on a dare

Security cameras inside the police department revealed a male removing a black rug from the lobby of the building at approximately 2:39 a.m. Oct. 17. Dispatch alerted officers of the theft and described the male as wearing a blue Jean jacket and blue Jeans.

He left the building with the rug and ran around the corner behind St. Mary Church and out of sight.

An officer was nearby and saw a male matching the description walking out of a side yard in the 100 block of East Walnut Street. He was stopped and officers could detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath. It was confirmed he was the suspect, and he was placed in custody.

The area was searched and the rug was found behind a building on East Walnut Street in the area where the suspect was found.

He admitted stealing the rug and said a friend dared him to steal it. He was processed and taken to the Butler County Jail on charges of theft and issues concerning underage persons.

Stolen backpack traced with $3 card charge

A $3 charge at McDonald’s led police to the recovery a backpack stolen from a porch in the 200 block of South Campus Avenue. The report was made at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 16. The victim told the responding officer he had left the backpack on the porch when he went inside for about 30 minutes.

The backpack contained his wallet, Social Security card, Georgia driver’s license and a Visa bank card. It also contained $30 cash and $2,500 in Indian currency. It also held several other items including a red notebook with class notes and a pair of black blue glasses. He said he was most concerned about the notebook because it contained study material for an upcoming exam.

He was notified that the bank card had been used for a $3 purchase at McDonald’s. Officers went there and saw two women at a table with a backpack on the floor matching the description of the one stolen.

One of the women, Cheyenne Snell, 25, said she found the backpack there when she went to the booth. She was asked for identification and when she was getting it out, the officer saw some Indian currency in her pocket. Asked about it, she said it had been in the backpack when she found it. The victim’s credit cards were found in the backpack.

McDonald’s verified the charge for payment and Snell named another person, saying he had given her the credit card to buy food. Video from the store showed Snell ordering the food while wearing the backpack.

She said the wallet was in a trash can behind nearby apartments and the notebook was in the alley two houses down from the house where the theft occurred. Both were retrieved and returned to the victim.

Snell was charged with misuse of credit cards and receiving stolen property. In a search at the Butler County Jail, she was found to be in possession of a glass amphetamine pipe and a baggie containing a crystalline substance, which was taken for lab analysis with additional charges pending.

Drug charge results following ‘poppers’

Police were called to Indian Cove Circle at 6:38 p.m. Oct. 12 to assist the fire department which was evaluating a man whose son said he was not acting correctly. The officer left the scene but a short time later was called back there by fire department members who discovered a man passed out in the driver’s seat of a black SUV.

The man was identified as Harry Valdez, 38, and revived. He said he had been with the person taken to the hospital and they had been doing “poppers.” He said the other man had refused to quit and Valdez said he left the apartment but passed out in the vehicle. He agreed to go to the hospital, also, to be checked out to insure he was able to drive back to Cincinnati.

The officer was going to drive him to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital but was checking Valdez to be sure he had nothing on him heeded to know about. Keys, a wallet and a napkin were handed over, but in a pat-down, he was found to have two lighters and a glass pipe with burnt residue. Asked again about anything else on his person, he produced a baggie of a crystalline substance.

He was issued a summons for drug abuse instruments and released on his own recognizance. The baggie was sent to the lab for analysis with charges pending the results.

OVI charge results after vehicle crash

An officer on patrol on East Chestnut Street saw a vehicle with its flashers on stopped near the entrance to SDS Pizza, off of South Main Street. An off-duty officer at the scene and shouted “No! Stop!” which prompted the arriving officer to activate emergency lights and make a traffic stop.

The driver slumped over the steering wheel and began to fall toward the passenger, a woman who was told to shut off the engine. She did so and handed the keys to the officer.

The driver was identified as Demarco Thomas, 26. The officer noted the smell of alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle but the woman said they had been to Skyline and had not made it to the bar. Thomas was described as having glassy eyes, slurred speech, unsteady balance and the odor of an alcoholic beverage about his person.

Thomas was taken to the police department and passed out on the way. Meanwhile, another officer located a vehicle on South Main Street with damage which matched with damage to the Thomas vehicle.

He agreed to a breath test and the first sample was provided without a problem but they attempted eight times to get a second sample during which he either could not complete it or refused to perform the test. He was then marked as refusing.

Thomas was charged with reasonable control and operating a vehicle intoxicated. A friend arrived and Thomas was released on his own recognizance.

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