Grand jury indicts several JC residents

This week, the Cole County grand jury sent several cases to the circuit courts, finding there was enough evidence the cases could possibly go to trial.

Among those indicted were two Jefferson City men charged in connection with a check-theft scheme.

David Freeman, 29, 1828 Cedar Hill Road, and Odis Robinson Jr., 30, 4925 Charm Oak Drive, are charged with receiving stolen property and forgery.

According to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement, 15 checks were taken from Courtesy Loans on Ellis Boulevard between October and September of last year. They were taken from their Jefferson Bank business account and had been fraudulently written and cashed at three different Jefferson Bank locations. Each check was for $800, and the total taken came to $12,000.

Freeman told authorities Robinson would obtain the checks while visiting an employee of Courtesy Loans with whom he had a personal relationship.

After Freeman and Robinson got the checks, they then had others cash them. Those who cashed the checks would keep some of the money and give the rest to Freeman and Robinson.

Jefferson Bank video surveillance captured the people cashing the checks.

In other cases, the grand jury also indicted:

• A Jefferson City man facing two counts of statutory sodomy for having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14.

Christopher Newby, 23, is also charged with second-degree burglary and felony stealing. Court records show the incidents occurred between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, 2013. After being arrested, Newby admitted to having sex with the girl at a residence on Monroe Street. The other incident occurred at an abandoned residence on East Capitol Avenue, which he broke into.

Newby also admitted to taking a laptop computer from a friend and pawning it, using the money to buy K2, which he smoked with several people. Newby has no permanent address and was found guilty of second-degree child molestation in July 2013.

• A Jefferson City man charged with robbing a cellphone store on Missouri Boulevard on Dec. 30, 2013.

Darrick Calvin Jr., 22, of 121 W. Atchison St., is charged with one count of second-degree robbery. Jefferson City police say Calvin went into Seal Tech, removed a phone from the counter and fled. A witness tried to grab Calvin to stop him, but Calvin pushed the witness, causing him to fall and receive minor injuries to his hand, elbow and leg.

One of the store's co-owners was able to catch Calvin and get the phone back. The co-owner then held Calvin at gunpoint until officers arrived. During questioning, Calvin admitted to taking the phone and pushing the witness.

• Ronald Allen Jr., 38, Fulton, charged with the November 2013 burglary of a home on Donald Drive where residents were sleeping, and of fleeing from police after they tried to stop his car on West Main Street because his tail lights were out. Allen is charged with first-degree burglary, tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and leaving the scene of an accident.

A Jefferson City police news release said when an officer tried to stop a vehicle for the tail lights violation, Allen headed north on Boonville Road, "then travelled off the roadway and struck a home in the 900 block of Boonville Road. Allen fled the area on foot, and was not located." The house sustained approximately $77,000 in damage, and authorities weren't able to locate Allen until December in Fulton. Allen was interviewed by Jefferson City police and "admitted to driving the vehicle in the pursuit."

• A former Jefferson City High School teacher charged with identity theft for using a relative's Social Security number and charging more than $15,000 worth of items to the person's credit card. Diane Trammell-Bentley of Jefferson City had worked as a tenured teacher at the Simonsen 9th Grade Center. She was charged Aug. 20, 2013, and is accused of having committed the thefts in June 2011.

A Cole County Sheriff's Department probable cause statement shows that while attempting to obtain a home loan, the victim discovered multiple lines of credit had been fraudulently opened with the victim's name, Social Security number and date of birth.

Some of the creditors showed that credit applications were filled out online using the victim's information, but with Trammell-Bentley's address. During an interview with deputies, Trammell-Bentley said she had been having financial hardships and had assisted this family member in preparing taxes in the past, giving her access to the relative's vital information.