Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
From doughnuts to diesel
By Betty Lawrence
Scott Spears, a 20-year-old Celina man who faces charges for doing doughnuts on the courthouse lawn in November and for fleeing from officers in October, was arrested again - this time for stealing diesel fuel from a semitrailer.
Spears was to appear this afternoon in Celina Municipal Court to face four misdemeanor charges of theft, possession of criminal tools, criminal trespass and criminal mischief. He reportedly confessed to stealing approximately 75-80 gallons of fuel from a semi early this morning.
According to a police report from Police Detective Ron Waltmire, the department received an anonymous call early this morning at 1:27 a.m. about a male who was attempting to steal gas from a semi parked at 715 S. Sugar Street (the former Case Leasing property).
According to Waltmire, Sgt. Tom Wale approached the semi on foot and a person in a 1999 silver pickup truck spun his tires and tried to leave the area at a high rate of speed, traveling through a grassy area to reach the roadway.
After yelling at the truck driver to stop, officer Wale radioed a nearby cruiser and the driver then was stopped at the intersection of Sugar and Main streets by the assisting officer.
Officers discovered a large tank, fuel hose and pump in the back of the truck, and the suspect, after questioning, confessed to stealing approximately 75-80 gallons of fuel from the semi owned by Ross Zimmer of Celina, the report says.
The department impounded the vehicle and its contents.
Spears was arrested on Election Day for allegedly doing doughnuts with a four-wheeler on the courthouse lawn and during that investigation reportedly admitted to fleeing from officers on a motorcycle during a high-speed chase in October.
He pleaded not guilty to: fleeing and eluding and two counts of driving under suspension, all first-degree misdemeanors; criminal mischief and operating an ATV on the roadway, both third-degree misdemeanors; and willful and wanton disregard for safety, a minor misdemeanor. A pretrial hearing on those charges is set for Dec. 10.
