BLANCHESTER — Police cited a driver they say damaged two mailboxes with his vehicle and left the scene.
On the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 28, police were called to the 400 block of Bourbon Street where two mailboxes had been damaged overnight, according to Police Chief Scott Reinbolt. He said officers found sections of a car bumper at the scene.
BPD Cpl. James Beckelhymer and Ptl. Eli Kibbee determined that “the pieces of car bumper were from a light-colored Ford Escort,” said Reinbolt. “A night-shift officer recalled seeing a car of that description downtown in the early morning hours of Nov. 28. The night shift officer recalled the license plate number of the Escort he had seen. A check of BMV files revealed the registered owner of the car to be Blake Bella, 27, who resides in rural Blanchester.”
He said officers went to Bella’s residence and observed the vehicle in his driveway to be a light-colored Ford Escort missing portions of its front bumper. Bella was cited for a marked lanes violation as well as leaving the scene of an accident, said Reinbolt, and he will answer the charges in the Clinton County Municipal Court.
”I applaud the tenacity of Cpl. Beckelhymer and Ptl. Kibbee in working to clear this case,” said Reinbolt. “To some it may seem trivial, but to those whose property was damaged, it was an important case.”
Woman arrested
At around 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 30, police were called to 134 Central Ave. after an anonymous woman called 911 claiming that Katlyn Bobbitt, 20, was being held against her will at gunpoint in a garage at the rear of the property.
Reinbolt said responding officers found Bobbitt and a man walking in the alley behind the residence, laughing and enjoying one another’s company.
“Both stated she was not being held against her will and that neither had a firearm,” said Reinbolt. “A search of both parties confirmed this.
“Both were checked for warrants, and officers learned that Bobbitt was wanted by the Wilmington Police Department for failure to appear in court as ordered in a traffic case. She was placed under arrest and transported to the Clinton County Jail.”
