The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department is asking for your help locating this week’s most-wanted fugitive. Judy Jackson, department spokeswoman, says that they are looking for 37-year-old Benjamin

Travis Leonard. He is described as a white man, five-feet, seven-inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. Leonard has brown hair and brown eyes, along with multiple tattoos.

If you have any information as to Leonard’s whereabouts, you are asked to contact Capt. Dave Steinkoenig at (812) 565-5940. You may also call the department’s Tip Line at (812) 379-1712 or send an email to sheriff@bartholomew.in.gov.

A Columbus man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly leading police on a vehicle chase, then a pursuit on foot.

Lt. Matt Harris, spokesman for the Columbus Police Department, says that just before 4 a.m., Officer Travis Harbaugh noticed a vehicle with an expired license plate in the area of 11th Street and Washington Street. When Harbaugh attempted to stop the vehicle, he says that the vehicle sped up and refused to pull over. The driver, 37-year-old Douglas W. Houchens, allegedly disregarded a number of stop signs before losing control of the vehicle and striking a curb near 22nd Street and Hawcreek Avenue. Police say that Houchens then got out of the vehicle and fled on foot. Houchens was apprehended by Harbaugh and a CPD K-9 a short time later.

Authorities say that Houchens appeared drunk and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. After being discharged, Houchens was booked on preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle, Resisting Law Enforcement on Foot, Leaving the Scene of an Accident and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated.

Bartholomew County deputies are warning of a robbery that happened after a meetup to buy a cell phone, arranged through Facebook.

The incident happened at almost 11 p.m. Monday night in the 8700 block of Old Nashville Road, says Judy Jackson, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department. The would-be buyer met the seller of the cell phone through Facebook and then drove the seller to what he was told was the seller’s home.

Instead, the passenger pointed an object from his jacket pocket and demanded the victim’s cell phone and wallet and then ran away, Jackson says.

Deputies, including the department’s police dog Diesel, searched the area but couldn’t find the suspect.

Sheriff Matthew A. Myers warns that if you are buying or selling to someone you met online, you should ask specific questions that only someone who owns the product would know.

“If they can’t answer basic questions, there is a good chance they don’t actually have the product and chances are it is a setup to rob you,” Myers said.

He also cautioned to always meet in a public place, never got to a secondary location and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Columbus police are looking for your help solving what they are calling a smash and grab robbery last night at the Disc Replay store.

Police say that two suspects walked into the North National Road store at just before 9 p.m. Tuesday night and broke a glass display case. They then stole laptop computers and other electronics.

The suspects then ran to a gray or green Jeep Cherokee to make their getaway. Both suspects were wearing dark jackets and masks.

If you have any information, you can contact the Columbus Police Detectives Division or Detective Michael Pigman at 812-376-2631. Tips can be left anonymously.

After years of the threat of deficits and looming crises, Bartholomew County officials are finally looking at some good news from the county employees health insurance trust fund.

Barring any large, last-minute claims, the trust fund is on track to have more than $700,000 at the end of the year, said Barb Hackman, the county auditor. In recent years, the self-insurance fund has been in danger of ending the year in the red, requiring a scramble by county officials to find funds to keep the trust fund solvent.

County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop said one of the big differences this year has been having no catastrophic illnesses among employees. Those will quickly eat up the reserves, he said.

County officials have increased the employees’ share of the health care costs, and changed benefits and deductibles to find ways to improve the health of the trust fund.

County officials say they need about three good years in a row to build up the $2 million in reserves they believe the county needs.

Changes to Columbus city ordinances will, hopefully, lead to a few more open parking spaces.

The Columbus City Council voted Tuesday night to give final approval to ordinance changes addressing abandoned, unlicensed and oversized vehicles and where they can be parked. Under the proposal, these vehicles cannot be parked on public property, including city streets or right of ways.

One ordinance change, addressing vehicles on private property, was struck at the urging of Councilman Frank Miller. He expressed concerns with the placing of a few sentences about private property restrictions being within an ordinance change that was largely focused on public parking and access.

Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration, as well as Fred Barnett, the city’s code enforcement officer, agreed with Miller’s assertion that changes to how vehicles can be kept on private property should be kept separate. An ordinance change dedicated to that, is expected in the coming weeks.

Ferdon and Barnett have said that the goal is to keep unlicensed and inoperable vehicles out of public view. That can be done by storing vehicles in a garage, carport or behind a privacy fence, out of view from the street.

A pickup truck that had been reported stolen out of Bloomington was found late Monday afternoon, just after it had been driven into a tree on Country Club Road, just east of Nashville.

Curt Durnil, spokesman for the Indiana State Police, says that 28-year-old Jesse Irvin Richardson, of Bloomington, had the pickup truck at the time of the crash. Investigators believe the truck had been driven at a high rate of speed and was unable to negotiate a curve, resulting in the vehicle leaving the roadway and striking a fence before running into the tree, head-on.

Durnil says that Richardson was air-lifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, suffering from compound fractures. He adds that the investigation is ongoing.

A CSA New Tech student was arrested Monday after allegedly threatening another student.

Larry Perkinson, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation’s employee and student assistance coordinator, says that another CSA New Tech student reported receiving threatening messages through social media. That student shared the information with school officials on Monday morning. This led school officials to involve the school resource officers who conducted an investigation.

Perkinson says that the student that allegedly made the threats was not at school but was contacted by Columbus police and later arrested. That student’s identity has not been released.

After a fire yesterday morning in Columbus North High School’s Erne Auditorium, local organizations that had events scheduled for the auditorium are looking for new venues.

The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic announced yesterday that this Sunday’s holiday concert featuring the Wright Brothers will be moved to Columbus East’s auditorium. Shows are at 3 and 7 p.m. Seats will all be general admission.

Yesterday’s fire happened at about 7:44 a.m., when an overhead light burst, sending superheated glass into a plastic light cover. The cover then melted and dropped molten plastic onto the seats below, igniting the fabric. About 25 seats were destroyed. School officials quickly extinguished the fire but there was extensive smoke damage.

Many local residents are reporting a string of strange text messages from a number they don’t recognize. Authorities say that the messages are likely an attempted scam.

The text messages appear to be coming from the 812-390-4629 number with mundane texts such as “Sorry, I couldn’t respond earlier,” or “I miss you” or even “Wake up and text me.” Dozens of people are reporting text messages from the number on social media.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Detective Capt.Chris Roberts said that the department has had complaints about text messages. He suggests that the texts are likely spoofed, simulating a real number through the internet. He says he suspects they are coming from potential scammers, looking for working cell phone numbers and possibly gathering information from those who respond to the rogue texts.

Calling the phone number this morning leads to an immediate hangup but some people have reported an air horn or being shouted at when they call the number.