Fort Wayne police and court briefs

Aug. 12--Teen accused of arson to collect insurance

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Fort Wayne teen accused of setting fire to his truck to collect the insurance money.

Dylan H. Goetterman, 19, of the 2000 block of Point West Drive, faces charges of arson, a Class D felony, and one count of criminal mischief, a Class D felony, in Allen Superior Court.

According to court documents, Chad Gerardot, arson investigator for the Fort Wayne Fire Department, responded June 28 to a vehicle fire in the West Wind Apartment Complex, 2102 West Point Drive. Goetterman, the owner of the Dodge Ram truck, said he parked it at around 12:30 a.m. and locked all the doors. He said he was on his apartment balcony to smoke a cigarette at around 4 a.m. when he saw the emergency vehicles; being curious he went to investigate and saw the crew extinguish the fire in his truck, according to the documents.

Gerardot found the fire had originated in the back of the cab under the rear seat on the driver's side and was started by a grill lighter and a bottle of grill starter fluid. Goetterman said the lighter was his but he had never seen the fluid before; he told the investigator he thought a man who had been interested in buying the truck, which was for sale, had become angry when Goetterman had not accepted the man's purchase offer, according to the documents.

Goetterman allegedly said the man could have set fire to the truck and stolen money in it. Eventually, he allegedlychanged his story and said he had discovered the truck had been broken into overnight and some money had been stolen from the interior. Goetterman said a relative had in the past advised him to set the truck on fire to ease financial hardships, which he did so he would no longer have to make payments on his truck, according to the documents.

Man shot in leg early Sunday

A man was shot in the leg Saturday, but just how it happened is still to be determined.

According to a report from the Fort Wayne Police Department they responded to a call in the 300 block of Suttenfield Ave around 1:09 a.m. When they arrived they found a man on the front porch bleeding from a wound to his left leg. A woman at the scene told the officers she and her family were sitting on the front porch relaxing when her father was shot it the leg. Due to the extent of the bleeding an officer applied a tourniquet, and eventually quick clot. The man told the police reluctantly some people in a car had shot him, but didn't know the color, make or model. One of the officers saw bloody footprints leading through the house to the back door and blood on the back door, so the officer cleared the residence and while clearing it noticed a box for a 38 Special in closet in a rear bedroom on the first floor.

Woman shot outside Pontiac Mall

A woman was shot in the chest Friday night at the intersection of Emily and Smith streets.

According to a report from the Fort Wayne Police Department officers responded at around 9:03 p.m. and found a woman lying on the ground near a red Impala. Shortly after they began to help the woman a man approached who identified himself as the father of her child; he was holding her daughter. He told police the shooting occurred by the Pontiac Mall and that the shooter was in a black Impala. He said he did not see the shooter and was not sure why she had been shot. The man said initially that the woman had been in the car while he was in a store and was just walking out when she was shot. He thought maybe she was mistaken for the owner of the red Impala. He then changed his story to say that he and his daughter were getting into the red Impala when the shooting started and he didn't know how he hadn't been shot.

The daughter told officers that she was in the backseat and her mother was driving the car but was just getting ready to drive off when the shooting occurred. She said her father was just getting into the car when two men got out of a black car and looked at her father like they wanted to kill him, then they started shooting, according to the report. The father and daughter were taken to the police station for interviews. The woman was taken to the hospital in serious condition with a bullet wound to the chest.

Chicago woman faces forgery charge

A Chicago woman is accused of trying to cash a fake check.

Martha A. Owens, 20, has been charged with forgery, a Level 6 felony, in Allen Superior Court.

According to court documents, the Fort Wayne Police Department responded Aug. 6 to Star Financial Bank in reference to check fraud. The bank manager had contacted Pint and Slice, the reported issuing business, which said it had no record of such a transaction. Owens, who was at the bank when police arrived, was taken into custody.

During an interview with the police Owens allegedly told them she had come from Chicago with two other people with the intent to make money. The check was in the amount of $1,475.00 and written to Martha A. Owens. She said she was given the printed check by one of the people she was with from Chicago, according to court documents. Owens went to the bank and allegedly signed a document and presented the check to the bank employee. She is now being held at the Allen County Jail.

Man shot in leg early Sunday

A man was shot in the leg during an altercation with other men early Sunday morning. according to police.

According to a report from the Fort Wayne Police Department officers responded to a call of shots fired at around 12:55 a.m. at Buell Drive and Pasadena Drive. One officer found a blue Chevrolet Impala with a couple of occupants while another officer dealt with several people from a Chevrolet Blazer who were being detained as suspects in the incident. Police found an individual with a gunshot wound to his lower right leg.

Witnesses said they had saw individuals standing around the two vehicles and some of the men began to fight. The witnesses said they saw one of the men who was dressed in orange shorts was waving a handgun around, and then they heard shots. After that they saw a gold four-door vehicle leave eastbound on Pasadena. They saw the individual with the handgun walk to the passenger's side of the SUV and heard the gun drop to the ground. The individual in the orange shorts was placed in the officer's vehicle for processing. Cameron Kizer, who allegedly had been waiving a gun, has a previous conviction for carrying a handgun without a license. He was taken to Allen County Lockup.

Officers searching the SUV after the men were out of it found another handgun under the driver's seat, according to.

Man shot, but how unclear

A man was shot in the leg Saturday, but just how it happened is still to be determined.

According to a report from the Fort Wayne Police Department officers responded to a call in the 300 block of Suttenfield Avenue at around 1:09 a.m. They found a man on the front porch bleeding from a wound to his left leg. A woman told the officers she and her family were sitting on the front porch relaxing when her father was shot it the leg. Due to the extent of the bleeding an officer applied a tourniquet, and eventually a product to stop the bleeding. The man reluctantly told police some people in a car had shot him, but he didn't know the color, make or model. One of the officers saw bloody footprints leading through the house to the back door and blood on the back door, so the officer cleared the residence and noticed a box for a .38-Special in a closet in a rear bedroom on the first floor, according to the report.

Fire Department evacuates 6 from apartment fire

The Fort Wayne Fire Department responded at 10:51 p.m. Monday to the Three Fountains Apartments when an occupant reported smelling smoke in her apartment. On arrival, fire crews found fire in the apartment next door.

No one was home in the apartment in the 4000 block of Hessen Cassel Road but six occupants had to evacuate the two apartments on each side of the fire. All got out safely.

It took fire crews 17 minutes to put out the fire. The fire remains under investigation.

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