Courts

GAVIN E. DURFEE, 22, was charged May 15 in Circuit Court with aggravated assault and battery for allegedly pointing a gun at a man who had messaged Durfee’s wife wanting to have sex with her. Durfee and the other man had been at a party the night of May 13 into the early morning of May 14 and Durfee left the party after getting upset at another guest and throwing a bottle of alcohol. After Durfee left the party, the man started messaging Durfee’s wife saying that he wanted to have sex with her. At home, Durfee waited for his wife to go to sleep then drove to the man’s residence and confronted him on the front porch. Durfee told police he used an airsoft gun and “just wanted to scare him.” The man and a witness who was there said Durfee approached the porch while yelling at the man to never talk to his wife again. Durfee then allegedly pulled a black gun from behind his back and pointed it at the man. Durfee returned the gun to his waistband and the two men wrestled before Durfee eventually took off. The man and witness described a black “Glock style” gun that did not match the silver airsoft gun Durfee had shown officers. Durfee later told police he owned a black 9mm pistol that was in his gun safe, which police seized as evidence, according to court documents.

DRUNKEN DRIVING

KARL E. COLEMAN, 57, was charged May 15 in Circuit Court with felony counts of driving while under the influence of alcohol, his fifth DUI within 10 years, and destruction of property. Sheriff’s deputies responded at about 6 p.m. May 14 for the report of a vehicle that crashed into 22 corral panels, a horse trailer and livestock feeder. They found a Ford pickup truck damaged at the scene and learned the driver, Coleman, had ran away on foot. Coleman was seen running across a field and was eventually found lying down in the field in an attempt to hide. He admitted to drinking prior to the crash, performed poorly on field sobriety tests and a breath test showed his blood alcohol content was 0.241%. He also didn’t have proof of insurance and his driver’s license had been suspended. Damage to the corral panels is estimated at $150 each, or $3,300. The horse trailer had $500 in damage and the livestock feeder had about $50 in damage, according to court documents.

CHILD ENDANGERMENT

JOSHUA T. WHITAKER, 36, was given a deferred sentence in favor of three years of supervised probation for endangering children. District Judge Stuart S. Healy III also fined him $575 at the April 25 sentencing. Police responded Oct. 21 when a woman reported her roommate, Whitaker, was smoking with a “crack pipe” in the garage of their home. Officers arrived and saw Whitaker standing in the attached garage alone. He came to the front door, appeared high and admitted to smoking marijuana about 30 minutes before the officer arrived. Whitaker denied officers permission to search the home and did not step off the porch when asked to. The officers grabbed his arm and removed him from the porch and arrested him for using marijuana. A search warrant was granted and officers found 0.1 grams of crystal meth, 0.1 grams of marijuana and 1 Schedule II pill in the garage. There was drug paraphernalia, much of it in plain sight, including pipes, a scale, a scale weight, torch lighters, jeweler’s bags, cotton swabs, spoons and a mirror, according to court documents.

DRUGS

DAVID M. WRIGHT, 61, was given a suspended four- to six-year sentence May 4 for possession with intent to deliver meth. Healy gave him three years of supervised probation, a $325 fine and ordered that he complete level two substance abuse treatment. Wright was arrested Aug. 19 after Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant signed by Circuit Judge Wendy M. Bartlett. No one answered the door when deputies knocked and they entered the residence. Wright, the homeowner, was found upstairs in bed and a holstered .45 caliber handgun with the serial number filed off was found near him. A 35-year-old woman was found downstairs and detained. Deputies found a number of used and unused jewelers bags, a large digital scale with meth residue and a small glass jar with about 1.09 grams of meth. Deputies also found a large bag with about 1.65 grams of meth, a homemade pill-bottle meth pipe with about 0.25 grams of meth, another bag with about 1 gram of marijuana and a large meth water pipe with about 1.74 ounces of liquid meth. In the woman’s basement room, deputies found a bag with about 0.5 grams of meth, a broken pipe with marijuana residue and another bag with about 0.1 grams of meth, according to court documents.

JEREMY G. STUDY, 42, was given a suspended 4.5- to five-year sentence April 13 for marijuana possession. District Judge James M. “Mike” Causey suspended a $5,000 fine, gave him three years of supervised probation and credit for 180 days served. Study was also fined $475. Study was pulled over Oct. 16 for speeding 80 mph in a 70 mph zone. He had no proof of insurance and deputies learned he had a revoked Colorado driver’s license. He was also on unsupervised probation from Sept. 19 through March 19, 2023. A deputy said he smelled marijuana and Study admitted to having a weed pipe in the center console and more paraphernalia in the trunk. A passenger, Nelson Freeman, dropped a weed pipe as he stepped out of the car and deputies found a bag of pot where he had been sitting. In the center console, they found a pipe with 0.22 grams of marijuana in it. A backpack in the trunk had syringes, bags with suspected meth residue and lighters. Study and Freeman were arrested. Study had prior misdemeanor possession convictions in Campbell County in 2015 and 2022, according to court documents.

RANDY TYREL ROMEO, 22, was given a suspended three- to five-year sentence April 24 for crystal meth possession, his third or subsequent possession offense. Causey gave him a suspended $3,000 fine, three years of supervised probation and $1,125 in other fines and fees. Sheriff’s deputies responded to a drunken driver report June 29 at about 5:45 p.m. on Interstate 90. The Dodge truck was stopped and deputies smelled marijuana from inside. The truck was searched and a pouch with a pipe with residue and two vials, one containing 0.1 gram of meth, was found. A metal container with 6.5 grams of marijuana and a Taurus handgun were also found in the truck, according to court documents

FAILURE TO REGISTER

CARL D. HUMES, 53, was charged May 8 in Circuit Court with failing to register. He’s accused of not notifying the Sheriff’s Office of a change in employment within the required three-day window. A Sheriff’s Office investigator was informed when it was learned that Humes had not updated his sex offense registry to reflect that a job he had ended in November. Humes did not respond to multiple calls and the investigator went to Humes’ home on Gray Road in Rozet. Humes told her that he didn’t know he had to report the employment change within three days, according to court documents.

Fines include any order to pay court costs, a contribution to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund and attorney fees.

District court items are taken from court documents filed in the Clerk of District Court Office. Their availability may have been delayed while judges signed the court orders.