On June 13, 2014 an Elkhart County jury convened in Superior Court 5 convicted Richard Bontrager, age 58, of OWI – endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor. Bontrager pled guilty to battery on a law enforcement officer, a Class A misdemeanor.
On June 4, 2014 an Elkhart County jury found Roger Hartman, of Osceola, St Joseph County, guilty of Strangulation, a Class D felony and Battery, a Class A misdemeanor. The jury convicted Mr. Hartman after hearing evidence Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning regarding an incident in Elkhart County.
On March 3, 2014, after deliberating for less than 15 minutes, a jury convicted Wesley New of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) and Driving While Suspended – Prior, both Class A misdemeanors. Upon being convicted by the jury, New waived his right to a jury for the second phase of the trial and admitted to the Court that he had a prior conviction for OWI within the previous five years, which makes his charge a Class D felony.
On February 27, 2014 defendant Adam White was convicted of one count of Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon, a Class C Felony. White stabbed victim Rolando Canchola with a knife approximately one foot in length in the area of Brady Street and Jackson Place on September 10, 2013, while Canchola was outside with friends and other members of the neighborhood.
On February 14, 2014 Mitchell Frantz a six person jury found Mitchell Frantz guilty of Battery and Bodily Injury (A Misdemeanor) after injuring his elderly neighbor. On January 26, 2013 an elderly citizen of Elkhart County believed she heard a domestic violence occurring in a next-door apartment. When the concerned neighbor went next door to help out a potential victim in need, she became a victim herself.
