While on the way there, officers were informed the pair had left the hotel. One officer continued to the hotel while another located the vehicle and made a traffic stop.
The hotel manager identified the woman as Tracy Bell, 47, and said the woman had been dissatisfied with her room upon arrival. The manager refused to give a refund and Bell became irate. She then spent several minutes attempting to contact corporate to complain while continuing to be verbal and aggressive toward employees.
After several minutes, Bell and the male she was with walked out of the lobby, allegedly knocking over several items on the lobby counter, including a potted plant which became removed from the pot upon hitting the floor. They got into the vehicle and left the scene, according to the hotel manager.
After the traffic stop, the male was identified as Kelly Perryman and the officer was made aware his license had been suspended. The registration for the vehicle, a 2013 Ford Explorer, had an order to confiscate on behalf of the registrar.
Both were cited and vehicle towed.
Buyer learns truck was stolen property
Multiple traffic violations drew the attention of a police officer on patrol Aug. 9 on West Sycamore Street and that led to the discovery the vehicle had been stolen in November 2019. The driver was operating it with a suspended driver’s license.
The officer saw the black Ford Ranger pickup truck going east on West Sycamore fail to stop at the stop line at the intersection of North College Avenue. The front tires were in front of the stop line and the vehicle then rolled through the intersection without coming to a complete stop. The officer followed the truck and entered the vehicle into the mobile computer. The registration returned to a white 2003 Ford Ranger.
The officer then signaled the vehicle to pull over near the intersection of Morning Sun Road. The driver was identified as Fred I V Hill, 55, by his Ohio driver’s license. He was asked for the vehicle’s registration and looked around the vehicle although making no effort to search for it.
Hill was asked where he keeps the registration and he said his wife had it. He admitted not coming to a complete stop at the intersection. When told the registration came back to a white truck, he reportedly said, “I’ve got four of them.”
A check of the VIN showed the black 1997 Ford Ranger had been reported stolen Nov. 27, 2019 in Butler County. Dispatch confirmed Hill’s driver’s license was suspended.
Hill was read his Miranda rights and agreed to speak to the officer. He said he bought the black Ford Ranger truck in Camden and gave a partial name of the seller. He said he paid $300 three years ago. He said he placed the license plate from the white vehicle onto the black one and kept the title of the white vehicle in the black one hoping to pass it off as the registration for the black Ford Ranger.
He was handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser and taken to the police department for processing. He was charged with receiving stolen property and citations for driving under suspension, duties at a stop sign and fictitious plates. He was taken to the Butler County Jail. The black Ranger was impounded.
Laptop found in vacant apartment
A laptop and a debit card were reported to police as found in what was supposed to be a vacant Oxford Commons apartment Aug. 8. Police were called by an employee of the complex who told them the vacant, unrented apartment was being cleaned in preparation for student move-in.
The employee said they had found a bedroom window ajar.
Employees had found the black laptop plugged into an outlet and it was taken to the office awaiting arrival of police. The debit card had one name on it but the officer turned on the laptop and a different name appeared on the screen.
The employee said they wanted a police report to document the incident and there were no security cameras which could have captured footage of it.
Stolen package carried Apple watch
Police were called to a residence in the 100 block of North Elm Street for a report of a missing package which had been delivered.
The victim said she had purchased an Apple iWatch Series 7 from Amazon and had received notification it had been delivered directly to the resident at 12:02 p.m. on Aug. 8. She was at work at that time and lives alone but when she returned home that evening the package was not found anywhere on the porch or in the yard.
She explained she had contacted a lawn care service about mowing her yard and when she returned home that evening, the yard had been mowed. She said she had called the lawn care service several times but not gotten a response.
At the time of the report, she said she had opened an inquiry with Amazon and was awaiting a reply from their customer service.
Driver identified as having warrants
An officer on patrol in a marked police vehicle at 1:43 p.m. August 13 checked the registration of a silver Dodge Dart which returned with information the registered owner had an active warrant for his arrest through the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
The officer made a traffic stop on North Locust Street at West Vine Street and identified the driver as the registered owner, James A. Smith, 47.
Warrants for failure to appear on charges of domestic violence and assault were confirmed and Smith was taken into custody and transferred to the Butler County Jail without incident.