ELKHART COUNTY COURTS: Charges updated in 2023 crash death

Jul. 18—A Nappanee teen who was charged with causing death when operating a vehicle while intoxicated after a crash on in Nov. 2023 will not be charged with that charge as the court learned during when he pleaded guilty that he wasn't intoxicated.

A probable cause affidavit for the case claims that Juan C. Solano Cruz, 18, Nappanee, may have been on CNS depressants such as Xanax, Valium, or Klonopin based on a drug recognition evaluation. Solano Cruz submitted to a chemical test with results pending.

The crash occurred at 8:53 p.m. Oct. 15. Nappanee Police were called to Main Street and Heritage Parkway for a report of a vehicle crossing the center line directly into the pathway of a transit van heading south.

At the scene, Solano Cruz said he'd never received a license, and police said his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slow and slurred.

The transit van had 10 occupants, and there was a pedestrian on the roadway. Paramedics advised that passenger, Elizabeth Borkholder, 83, New Paris, died at the scene. Her daughter-in-law, Christina Borkholder, 58, New Paris, was placed into the intensive care unit at Elkhart General Hospital for multiple spinal and rib fractures.

Pedestrian Kirstyn Truex, 34, Nappanee, sustained injury to her face, needing "severe reconstruction," the affidavit indicated.

The court learned on Thursday that Solano Cruz would not be being charged for Count 1, Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated, a Level 4 Felony; Counts 2 and 3, Causing Serious Bodily Injury When Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated, a Level 5 Felony, because he was not, in fact, intoxicated.

He did, however, plead guilty to Identity Deception, a Class A Misdemeanor. Solano Cruz was sentenced to one year on probation.

RYAN D. SNYDER

A man who was arrested for the murder of his two-year-old this month was already equipped with three attorneys during his initial hearing on Thursday.

Ryan Snyder, 37, Elkhart, was arrested for the murder of his 2-year-old son Jaxon after an 18-hour standoff with police July 7.

According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to a home in the 57000 block of Pendleton Drive in Elkhart for a welfare check at 9:06 p.m. July 6, after it was reported that a man living in the home was threatening to kill two children, a two-year-old son Jaxon David Snyder and four-year-old daughter Penelope Sky Snyder.

The call had come in to police by the children's mother Jasmine Edwards, who said her children were at their father's house for his scheduled weekend and she was out of state when she received an alarming phone call around 8:30 p.m. that day.

During the video call, Snyder was allegedly shouting things and talking to himself, and a crying Penelope told her mom that Snyder told her to say "Dad said that we are not going to see you again." Edwards told police in the background she could hear Snyder said that he was "going to end it all," and that she was not going to see her children again.

Edwards said Snyder was referring to himself in the third person though he was the "Alpha Omega", a biblical reference to Jesus, according to the affidavit. Edwards said Snyder was telling Penelope that he loved her and saying "I'm sorry, I have to do this." Edwards said that Snyder wanted her to remain on the call as he killed the children, but she hung up and called police.

Police on the scene also noted that Snyder could be seen wearing body armor and carrying the rifle, and that "gunfire could be heard coming from within the residence at times." The Indiana State Police SWAT Team arrived on the scene several hours later and police say Snyder continued to ignore police attempts at communication and at times, shot at drones officers had deployed inside the home to assess the situation.

At 3:34 p.m. July 7, SWAT entered the home and took Snyder into custody. Inside they found Jaxon dead in a basement bedroom with bruising to his left bicep, left chest, left hand, left foot, right hand, and right foot, but there were no indicators of serious external trauma to immediately determine a cause of death. Penelope was found alive and hiding.

Snyder's pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 15, trial status conference for Jan. 9, and a jury trial is scheduled Feb. 3.

DOUGLAS J. DEHOFF

A man who had cocaine in his system during a crash that killed another was sentenced in Elkhart County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Douglas J. Dehoff, 37, Goshen, pleaded guilty in June to causing death while operating a vehicle with a schedule II or II controlled substance May 23, 2022.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Dehoff was heading east on C.R. 4 and turned north onto Packard Drive and into the path of a 2004 Suzuki Cruiser motorcycle driven by Justin Bowen, 33, of Shipshewana, heading westbound on C.R. 4 at 4:45 a.m. that day.

Bowen was pronounced dead at the scene. Dehoff had leg pain and was taken to Goshen Hospital for treatment. Lab testing indicated the presence of cocaine in Dehoff's system.

Dehoff's sentencing is scheduled for July 18.

He was sentenced to a total of eight years with the Indiana Department of Corrections with three years suspended on reporting probation, four years to be served in prison and one on Michiana Community Corrections.

JOSHUA D. TINSLEY

A man awaiting his trial for over three years had a trial status conference on Thursday. Joshua Tinsley, Bristol, is accused responsible for the July 6, 2021 death of Beau Raber, 40.

Police say Tinsley and Raber met at an Ox Bow Drive resident in Dunlap July 2 where an altercation ensured. Tinsley allegedly struck Raber multiple times after he was told he was not welcome there and went to retrieve his handgun from his vehicle, which he fired once into the yard.

Four days later, Elkhart County deputies were called to the home to investigate an unresponsive man and declared Raber dead. His death is being directly linked to the attack.

Tinsley is facing three felony charges, which include aggravated battery, involuntary manslaughter and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

The case is scheduled for jury trial Aug. 19.

KRISTA F. PARTLOW

A woman charged in the death of her son following a 2021 crash met with Elkhart County Superior Court 3 Judge Teresa Cataldo Thursday.

Krista F. Partlow, 35, Millersburg, had entered a plea agreement previously, which had been rejected, but now a revision in the plea may allow her to close the case.

The crash occurred at C.R. 42 and Ind. 19 on Dec. 20, 2021, between a white Subaru Forester and a semi. The Subaru had gotten caught under the trailer of the truck.

The driver of the white Subaru, identified as Krista F. Partlow, 35, Millersburg, and her son Noah A. Murray, 10, were taken to the hospital for treatment, but her passenger was later pronounced dead.

Semi driver Will Conning, 21, told police that he'd been traveling north on Ind. 19 approaching C.R. 42 when he saw the Subaru out of the corner of his eye on C.R. 42, which witnesses say did not stop at the intersection, crashing into the semi.

Partlow's chemical test found Delta-9 THC in her blood. She was charged with causing death when operating a motor vehicle.

During her plea hearing, which was ultimately denied, Partlow disclosed that she was a delivery driver and performing job-related tasks when the crash occurred.

A status conference is scheduled for Aug. 15.

JOSUE GARCIA MIRANDA

One of several men accused of a burglary that later ended in death was in court for an initial hearing in Elkhart County Circuit Court on Thursday.

The victim reportedly told police that he was with Josue Garcia Miranda at his house on Burr Street for a time and left.

Garcia Miranda was acting erratic, so he asked Garcia Miranda to drop him off at a gas station nearby, and Garcia Miranda said he could stop by later, instead pulling into his own house on Franklin Street, according to court records.

Garcia Miranda told him to go inside before him, which the victim said he found unusual since he had never actually been there before and didn't know anyone there, court records reveal. A man later identified through an active warrant as Juan Toscano Ramirez reportedly told him to go upstairs and the three went upstairs together.

The two men, court records show, then asked the victim where the gun was, and the victim told them he didn't know what they were talking about. The two men then allegedly began beating him with a wooden stick and a gun, while the victim continued to tell them he didn't know what gun they were talking about, court records show.

Toscano Ramirez, the victim stated in the report, told him to empty his pockets and the victim took out his wallet and gave it to them, and then they walked him downstairs, and sat him down, where more men, including a man named "Dan," continued to ask him where the gun was and he continued to tell them he didn't know, but this time mentioned he did know someone with a gun, according to court records.

The victim then said that Garcia Miranda and Toscano Ramirez told him to get into the car, that they were going to get that gun, and that they would shoot him if he tried to flee or get help, the probable cause affidavit shows. They reportedly walked him at gunpoint to the car. The victim said he told Garcia Miranda that the gun was at a friend's house on Moorhouse Avenue.

When they arrived at the home, the victim's friend's grandma answered the door and the victim said he told her to call the police, court records show. She yelled something about a gun and the victim said it spooked the two men, who then left in the car and the victim got a ride from the friend's home to the ER to make the report, the report reads. He identified the men through a lineup.

Police said they found what appeared to be blood in the vehicle identified by the victim and owned by Garcia Miranda via search warrant.

Police also executed a search warrant on the home in the 700 block of Franklin Street, wherein officers said it appeared that a man named Daniel Davis took his own life during a standoff with SWAT.

Detectives said they recovered a digital video recorder during the search of the home, and said they found a recording with Garcia Miranda, Toscano Ramirez, and the victim, when the two entered the home, and later when they left and the victim was bloodied up and being escorted out presumably by gunpoint, the report reads.

Garcia Miranda was arrested following an attempt to visit the victim's home, police stated in their report. Police arrested him at a nearby traffic stop Nov. 21. Toscano Ramirez was arrested Dec. 2.

Garcia Miranda was granted a public defender during his initial hearing. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 15, trial status conference for Jan. 9, and a jury trial is scheduled Feb. 3.

LENESTER BATES

An Elkhart man arrested on a charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine was sentenced by plea to a total of 12 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, but the judge also agreed to order him Purposeful Incarceration during Elkhart County Superior Court 3 proceedings on Thursday.

"I do have an addiction problem, I did begin to sell drugs and I feel like I began selling drugs and using drugs because I lost my father in 2022, and I lost a son in 2022... during this time in 2022 I was having a custody battle with my children... and every lawyer I talked to was talking about $10,000 or more...," Lenester Bates recalled. "I made a lot of wrong choices to go about getting my children... and now I've got to be away from all my children for a long time now."

He did request Recovery While Incarcerated but told Elkhart County Judge Teresa Cataldo that he understood if he didn't get it.

"I can't keep doing this," Bates said. "I don't want to be away from my kids. That's the most important thing to me, being with them and helping raise them."

Bates was arrested after the Elkhart County Intelligence and Covert Unit received information about dealing illegal drugs in Aug. 2022 and conducted several controlled purchases to confirm sales.

South Bend Police Officers arrested Bates in St. Joseph County at a traffic stop and he was taken into custody. While en route to Elkhart Police Department, Bates agreed to speak to investigators and admitted to dealing with about a half pound of meth every few weeks. He was charged with Dealing in Meth, a Level 2 Felony.

"You have seven children, so you actually have seven more reasons to do what you say you're going to do," Cataldo said. "You understand that you need to change the trajectory of your life... you have a possibility to live another lifetime another way and it's only up to you to decide if you're going to do that."

Cataldo agreed to file for Recovery While Incarcerated for him in part due to the fact that Bates was granted furlough to attend his grandmother's funeral and returned on time still testing negative.

WILLIAM SANCHEZ VARGAS

A man who was evicted from a storage unit in Elkhart was charged with burglary at a locker near his old one.

William Sanchez Vargas, 39, had an initial hearing in Circuit Court on Thursday for the charge.

Police were called to All Secure Self Storage, 54401 Independence St., Elkhart, after a woman reported that someone had cut the lock to her storage locker on April 20 and taken a jewelry cabinet with the jewelry inside on April 15.

The company's security manager told police that Sanchez Vargas should be a suspect as they were in the process of evicting in from a nearby locker in the same unit.

Surveillance footage shows Sanchez leaving the building and going to his truck to retrieve a hacksaw and ratchet not long after, and showed him entering the facility several times between April 14 and April 25.

Sanchez Vargas was appointed a public defender. He has a trial conference on Aug. 15, trial status conference Jan. 9, and jury trial scheduled for Feb. 3.

DEVIN R. HAYNES

A man was in court for an initial hearing Thursday for an attempted armed robbery.

Devin R. Haynes is accused to attempting to rob a man at a gas station in Elkhart earlier this month.

Officers originally responded to a fight in progress at Energy Oil Gas Station, 1245 S. Main St., Elkhart but later learned that it was a robbery in progress at 11:55 a.m. July 9. The victim reported that a man pickpocketed him inside the store and acted like he had a gun in his sweatshirt, making threats to shoot him. The victim said he punched the man in the face during the robbery and the man ran away toward Midtown Court and then north.

An officer went to Midtown Court about 10 minutes later and came across a man matching the description of the suspect. Others met him across the tracks near Monroe Street and when they exited their vehicle he took off running, eventually responding to officer commands to stop running and was arrested. Upon search, officers found change in his pockets and surmised that cash and a weapon could have been discarded during the foot chase. No weapon was found on Haynes but as officers were taking him into custody, Haynes apparently yelled to bystanders at River Run to "go get my gun."

Haynes was appointed a public defender. His pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 15, trial status conference Jan. 9, and jury trial Feb. 3.

TYREZZ L. WASHINGTON

Tyrezz L. Washington, 26, pleaded guilty to Burglary, a Level 4 Felony, during Elkhart County Circuit Court Thursday.

The charges stem from a burglary of an apartment in the 400 block of Marion Street in Elkhart on Dec. 12, 2023.

On that day, police noted that the door to one of the apartments had been pried open and heard the sounds of someone inside so they called out, and quickly noted two men running along the front of the house toward Fifth Street.

Police were led on a foot pursuit, where Washington allegedly jumped two fences before being taken into custody on Sixth Street near Marion Street.

At the apartment, police found a crowbar on the ground, and noted that couch cushions had been tossed, and the bedroom appeared rummaged through. The tenants told police they were missing $4,000 in cash and a black Springfield XD9. When police retraced the pursuit trail, they also found a Glock that was not the same gun reported stolen, according to the tenants.

A dispositional hearing for the probation violation is scheduled for Aug. 15.

ABRAHAM VILLEGAS, JR.

A man who allegedly attempted to ignite a gas station gasoline well on fire in Elkhart was in Elkhart County Circuit Court Thursday for a pretrial conference.

Abraham Villegas Jr., 33, Elkhart, was arrested by Elkhart city police on two counts of arson, a Level 4 felony; resisting causing bodily injury, a Level 6 felony; criminal mischief, a Level 6 felony; and interfering with reporting a crime, a Class A misdemeanor in the early morning hours of June 22.

Police say the owner of the Marathon Gas Station at 1218 S. Main St. contacted police after he observed a man outside attempting to light a gasoline well on fire on the security footage at 5 a.m. Police also reviewed the footage and saw on video a man entering the parking lot on the south side, retrieving trash from the bins, pulling the nozzle out of a pump, and saturating the trash with gasoline, a probable cause affidavit reads. He then reportedly took the trash to the well, ignited it, and threw it into the well before fleeing north. Police did find melted plastic inside the well and burnt debris.

About 45 minutes later, another officer heard a tire popping in the parking garage where police vehicles are kept on Marion Street and found at the location, a police vehicle on fire. Among other notable problems with the vehicle, the officer noted that a propane tank was lying on its side within feet of the blazing vehicle, and confirmed the fire was intentional. The officer went searching for a suspect, having not seen any vehicles leaving the area recently.

They did note someone, Villegas, walking northbound on East Street. He was reportedly carrying a fuel canister and another officer attempted to stop him, and the man and an officer got into a physical fight. When he was handcuffed, police reported that Villegas refused to identify himself and was transported to the jail.

An additional pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 15 for a bond hearing. Villegas' bond is currently set at $75,000 corporate surety only. A trial status conference is scheduled for Dec. 12, and a jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 6.

KENT D. ELLIOTT

A man was sentenced to a total of four year with the Indiana Department of Corrections after he was allegedly caught by police in possession of meth and driving while intoxicated.

Officers stopped Kent. D. Elliott on McDonald Street for a nonilluminated license plate. When the officer attempted to speak with Elliott, he couldn't understand him and said in the probable cause affidavit that his words were slurred and he was stopping mid-sentence, noting that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

Due to the stranger nature of the conversation and several unusual items found in the vehicle, the officer began asking him what storage compartments in the water were comprised of, and asked him to show him and Elliott obliged, at one point removing a glass pipe from a compartment to hide it. Officers searched the vehicle and did confirm meth, marijuana, and the pipe and a grinder. Elliott claimed it was someone else's, but they also tested him for intoxication, and he failed field sobriety tests.

Elliott was sentenced for Possession of Meth, a Level 5 Felony, to four years at the Indiana Department of Corrections with one year suspended on reporting probation and the remaining three to be served at Elkhart County Community Corrections with a recommendation of home detention.

JONATHAN J. MARTINEZ

One of two teens associated with a Twin Pines armed robbery last winter was sentenced during Elkhart County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Johnathan Martinez, 19, was sentenced to 12 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections with five years suspended on reporting probation for Armed Robbery, a Level 3 Felony.

Eduardo Rueda and Martinez are accused of an armed robbery in Twin Pines Mobile Home Park in Goshen on Feb. 2, 2023. On Thursday, Martinez pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery, a Level 3 Felony.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim, also 16, had made an Instagram post selling a PlayStation 5, which Rueda responded to with interest in the purchase.

Rueda allegedly went to the teen's home and the two of them were outside discussing the transaction when a white Chevrolet Silverado with no license plate pulled up and a man in a ski mask exited the vehicle and pointed a gun at him and took the PlayStation. The white truck was later linked to Martinez.

Investigators found surveillance footage that led them to believe that Rueda and Martinez had met earlier in the afternoon at Martin's Supermarket, 3800 Mishawaka Road, and found evidence of communications between the two via SnapChat as they drove in their separate vehicles from Martin's to Twin Pines, and a SnapChat image to a group chat including Rueda of a PlayStation and gun in the Martinez' passengers' seat and announcing to the chat the successful robbery. It also, by video, led investigators to believe the two met up and transferred the gun and game system to Rueda's vehicle at Hobby Lobby parking lot, and Rueda set the robbery up.

JOSHUA A. FLORA

A man accused of armed robbery hours after being released from jail pleaded guilty Thursday during Elkhart County Circuit Court. Joshua Flora, 37, is accused of armed robbery, auto theft, intimidation, resisting law enforcement, and unlawful possession of a syringe.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Todd Behling told officers that he'd picked up Flora from St. Joseph County Jail a few hours prior and had stopped at Flora's mother house to pick up a tire iron. While Behling was at a McDonald's picking up a DoorDash order, Flora "began acting strangely and stabbing Behling in the side with the tire iron," and threatening to kill him, the affidavit states. Behling also said that Flora reached into his pockets and took items, and claimed himself to be a U.S. Marshall before Behling finally called 911.

Officers dispatched to North Nappanee Street and McNaughton Avenue while the dispatch center was on a call with a person in a vehicle who was telling another individual to "stop poking that into my side" around 12:55 a.m. Jan.29. Dispatch believed it to be a weapon and began pinging the victim's phone location.

The caller was revealed to be Todd Behling, who informed officers that he was at 29941 New Castle Drive and that the other individual in the car, Flora, had a tire iron and was stealing Behling's black Jeep Cherokee. A Jeep matching the description led officers on a chase wherein they initially lost the vehicle, but it was later found at the intersection of C. R. 108 and C. R. 1 crashed and on fire.

Officers pulled Flora out of the vehicle and he was hospitalized. At the scene, they found a syringe that would have been in the proximity of Flora.

Flora pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery, a Level 3 Felony; and Resisting Law Enforcement a Level 6 Felony, with the other charges dismissed. The anticipated sentence is eight years in total, with four years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, and four years on probation.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.