4 people arrested, charged in Ohio City

Van Wert independent/sheriff’s department information

OHIO CITY — The village of Ohio City was the focus of three different incidents handled by the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Department over the weekend.

On Saturday, deputies charged a Michigan woman with several charges related to a traffic stop in Ohio City.

At 1:12 a.m., a deputy on patrol saw a Michigan vehicle stop in the middle of the street on Ball Street and checked to see if there were any problems. However, while checking the status of the driver, Darlene Hendershoff, 36, of Flint, Mich., the deputy found she was driving under a license suspension. She was then placed under arrest and a search of the vehicle uncovered heroin and drug abuse instruments.

Hendershoff admitted the heroin was hers and she made an initial appearance Monday in Van Wert Municipal Court on a charge of possession of heroin, a fifth-degree felony. She also was arraigned on a charge of driving under suspension and two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug abuse instruments.

On Sunday, the sheriff’s department received a call at 5:09 in the morning from a driver who worked for Advantage Limo Service in Delphos reporting that someone stole the party bus he was driving while it was parked at the Ramblers Roost restaurant on Lincoln Highway.

The driver and several passengers had gone into the Ramblers Roost to eat and found the vehicle missing when they came back outside.

Two other passengers, who had stayed in the vehicle, were suspected of taking the bus. The sheriff’s department issued an advisory to area law enforcement agencies and a trooper from the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol located the vehicle on Hoffman Street in Ohio City.

An investigation indicated that Justin Tansy, 26, of Brownsburg, Ind., had driven off with the bus, accompanied by Jake Strick, 25, of Van Wert.

Tansy was charged with grand theft, a fourth-degree felony, while Strick was charged with complicity to grand theft, also a fourth-degree felony offense. Both made an initial appearance in Van Wert Municipal Court on Monday.

Also on Sunday, a deputy checking out a suspicious vehicle that had earlier been reported as transporting drugs to Ohio City found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and prescription drugs in the vehicle.

Robert Platt Jr., 34, of Ohio City, was charged with two counts of possession of prescription drugs, both fifth-degree felonies, and three misdemeanor counts associated with the traffic stop.

He also appeared in Municipal Court on Monday.