{"id":114498,"date":"2019-03-08T08:19:28","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=114498"},"modified":"2019-03-08T08:19:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:19:48","slug":"county-man-arrested-on-identity-theft-count","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/03\/08\/county-man-arrested-on-identity-theft-count\/","title":{"rendered":"Local man arrested on identity theft count"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A rural Van Wert County man was arrested on identity theft charges following execution of a search warrant at his residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tommy Searles, 56, was arrested on one count of identity theft, a felony of the third degree, and will make an initial appearance in Van Wert Municipal Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas M. Riggenbach said deputies executed a search warrant at approximately 12:40 p.m. Thursday at Searles\u2019 residence at 12001 State Route 81 in Liberty Township. The search warrant was the result of an investigation into identity theft and other related crimes. The sheriff said Searles, who is also wanted on drug charges by the Huntington County (Indiana) Sheriff\u2019s Office, was arrested minutes after the search warrant was executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"545\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Searles-residence-searched-3-7-19.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114499\"\/><figcaption><strong>Van Wert County Sheriff&#8217;s Office cruisers are at the residence of Tommy Searles to execute a search warrant as part of an identity theft investigation.<\/strong> <em>photo provided<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>During the search of the residence for items related to the identity fraud investigation, suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia were discovered. Deputies then obtained a second search warrant to be able to seize those drug-related items and any other drug-related items that may be located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Items seized for evidentiary purposes included miscellaneous medical paperwork, miscellaneous vehicle titles, miscellaneous deeds, several cell phones, a laptop computer, a .22-caliber rifle, several items of drug paraphernalia, and a small amount of white powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sheriff Riggenbach said Searles was taken to the Van Wert County Correctional Facility where he is being held prior to appearing in Municipal Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sheriff asks anyone with information on suspected identity theft, drug activity, or other crimes contact his office by calling 419.238.3866 or by using the Van Wert County Sheriff\u2019s Office website at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanwertcountysheriff.com\/\">www.vanwertcountysheriff.com<\/a> and clicking on the \u201cSubmit a Crime Tip\u201d link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone reporting information can remain anonymous. Sheriff Riggenbach stated his office will continue to aggressively pursue all drug tips that his office receives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>County residents can also report information on other crimes by using the above options or by contacting Van Wert County Crime Stoppers at 419.238.STOP, where they can also remain anonymous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent\/submitted information A rural Van Wert County man was arrested on identity theft charges following execution of a search warrant at his residence. Tommy Searles, 56, was arrested on one count of identity theft, a felony of the third degree, and will make an initial appearance in Van Wert Municipal Court. Van Wert County [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 23:09:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}