Journal Gazette

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana State Police say authorities seized nearly 2,000 methamphetamine labs in 2010 as more people making the illegal stimulant operated multiple laboratories. The 1,395 seizures in 2010 represented a 2 percent increase over the 1,364 meth labs confiscated in 2009. Vanderburgh County, which includes Evansville, had more seizures than any other county with 95. Two northeast Indiana counties followed: Kosciusko ranked second with 85 labs seized last year, and Noble County ranked third with 74. The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reports that changes in production methods have allowed a single person to operate several labs at once, increasing the number of labs found at any given time.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Officials say a fetus found in a Fort Wayne sewer overflow house was 14 to 15 weeks in development. The Journal Gazette reported Wednesday ( http://bit.ly/A6dlLP ) that the Allen County Coroner's Office stated a fetus cannot survive outside the womb at that stage of development and is considered to be non-viable. Coroners could not determine the sex of the fetus and it had no deformities or obvious signs of trauma. Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Raquel Foster says a miscarriage likely occurred.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Police say a 24-year-old Fort Wayne man has been charged with aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with a firearm after an ambulance transporting a stabbing victim and a car following it to the hospital were sprayed by bullets, injuring four. Fort Wayne police say Traneilous Jackson also was charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a felon. Police say three people in the car were shot about 3 a.m. Sunday. Their conditions were not available.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Fort Wayne man has been accused of torturing his girlfriend's kitten, which officials believe was dropped into a fire. Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Jerome was arrested Tuesday night and faces two felony charges of torturing or mutilating an animal and a misdemeanor count of cruelty. The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/RgnkYK) the kitten burned its paws and its whiskers were burned off in June. Court documents say Jerome's girlfriend told investigators he didn't want the cat. An affidavit says that Jerome told animal care officials he "could have burned the kitten's whiskers while flicking his lighter" and that he may have "bumped" the kitten into the fire.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Authorities say an 88-year-old Alzheimer's patient died after an altercation with another patient at a Fort Wayne nursing home. The Allen County Coroner's Office said Thursday that Betty Riley died Dec. 13 from injuries she suffered more than a week earlier when she was possibly pushed and her head hit the floor. The office says Riley suffered a blot clot to her brain from the fall. The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/rK7MUU)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A porn star from Fort Wayne who recently was known as one of actor Charlie Sheen's "goddesses" has had her driver's license suspended for 90 days after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in her hometown. A judge on Tuesday also sentenced 24-year-old Rachel Oberlin to a year on probation. She was arrested Feb. 3 after police say she crashed into a light pole and didn't adequately participate in a breath test. The Journal Gazette reports Oberlin and her attorney quickly left the courtroom after the hearing and didn't comment.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A Fort Wayne woman who forced her 2-year-old son to drink a concoction of olive oil and vinegar because she thought it would exorcise a demon from him has been sentenced to 62 years in prison for his murder and other charges. Latisha Lawson was convicted in May of the 2009 death of toddler Jezaih King, who died from asphyxia due to neck compression and suffocation. The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reports that Lawson was sentenced Friday to 62 years in prison for murder, neglect and battery charges.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A woman is suing Fort Wayne officials after she says a police dog attacked her son. The lawsuit filed this week in Allen Superior Court byTamier West alleges a police officer pursuing a suspect in April 2009 failed to control his dog, and the animal attacked her then-2-year-old son without provocation as the boy was standing outside his grandmother's home. The Journal Gazette reports the lawsuit says police thought a suspect had gone around the house and let the dog loose.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - The Allen County Prosecutor's Office has ruled a Fort Wayne police officer used justifiable force when he fatally shot a man who pointed an assault rifle at him and no charges were filed. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/Y10l1Y ) the prosecutor's office issued a statement Friday after an investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department and Indiana State Police into the death of 21-year-old Stephen O'Neal Wattley by Jeffery Burkholder Sr., a 31-year veteran of the police department.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Northeastern Indiana health officials say a Fort Wayne student whose tuberculosis diagnosis prompted the testing of nearly 150 classmates for the illness has a drug-resistant strain of the disease. The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/zomXcu ) that testing shows that the student's tuberculosis is a virulent strain that doesn't respond to the most powerful first-line drugs used to treat the illness. Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health department spokesman John Silcox said Thursday that it's the first known case of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Allen County.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A former University of Saint Francis athlete has been sentenced to a year in prison for his role in the rape of an incapacitated woman at a party. Twenty-three-year-old Troy Turner apologized during an Allen County court hearing Wednesday during which he was sentenced on a sexual battery charge. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/Z2jDb5 ) Turner is the second of three men to be sentenced for the attack that happened after an alcohol-fueled house party in October 2011.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Two Indiana school districts that test students for drug use are facing challenges as they look for ways to fund the programs. Officials at Southwest Allen County Schools and Smith-Green Community Schools in Churubusco say the screening is an effective deterrent to drug use but that paying for it isn't easy. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/12hAy9R ) that Southwest Allen has reduced the number of tests it gives to offset the costs.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Fort Wayne woman has been charged with drunken driving while her five children were in her minivan. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/17g9MAM ) 31-year-old Melissa Wilkinson had children ages 6 to 12 with her when she was arrested Saturday. Court documents show she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Court documents show Wilkinson was charged with operating a vehicle as a habitual violator and five counts each of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a passenger under the age of 18 and neglect of a dependent.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - The Allen County Prosecutor's Office has ruled a Fort Wayne police officer used justifiable force when he fatally shot a man who pointed an assault rifle at him and no charges were filed. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/Y10l1Y ) the prosecutor's office issued a statement Friday after an investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department and Indiana State Police into the death of 21-year-old Stephen O'Neal Wattley by Jeffery Burkholder Sr., a 31-year veteran of the police department.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Police say a 24-year-old Fort Wayne man has been charged with aggravated battery and criminal recklessness with a firearm after an ambulance transporting a stabbing victim and a car following it to the hospital were sprayed by bullets, injuring four. Fort Wayne police say Traneilous Jackson also was charged Monday with possession of a firearm by a felon. Police say three people in the car were shot about 3 a.m. Sunday. Their conditions were not available.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Relatives of a 13-year-old Fort Wayne boy shot while riding his bicycle say he's improving from a gunshot wound to the hip. Police say someone in a passing car fired several shots at Aquavion Manning as he and a friend were on bikes Saturday night. He was at first hospitalized in critical condition but family members are expecting him to recover. Katie Manning tells The Journal Gazette ( http://bit.ly/Sir2Aj ) she doesn't understand the shooting and that her grandson wasn't doing anything bad. Manning says the boys were on their way home after playing football and that Aquavion said someone just started shooting.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Fort Wayne man has been accused of torturing his girlfriend's kitten, which officials believe was dropped into a fire. Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Jerome was arrested Tuesday night and faces two felony charges of torturing or mutilating an animal and a misdemeanor count of cruelty. The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/RgnkYK) the kitten burned its paws and its whiskers were burned off in June. Court documents say Jerome's girlfriend told investigators he didn't want the cat. An affidavit says that Jerome told animal care officials he "could have burned the kitten's whiskers while flicking his lighter" and that he may have "bumped" the kitten into the fire.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The $3.8 billion Indiana received in 2006 for leasing the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign consortium will be mostly spent or allocated by the time the state's next governor takes office in January. As Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' tenure winds down, The Journal-Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/Ma97bX ) it's unclear what exact financial situation he's leaving his successor for highway projects. Indiana's next governor, either Republican Mike Pence or Democrat John Gregg, will face a big drop in highway funding and few options on the table.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Several bombs and bomb-making materials were found at the Fort Wayne apartment of a man suspected of causing an explosion that blew off one of his hands, police said Tuesday. Police were not releasing the name of the 43-year-old man because he is a suspect in an investigation, Officer Raquel Foster said. She said police do not yet know why he had the materials in his apartment but that he is not believed to be a terror suspect. Early indications are that explosives are the man's hobby, Foster said.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Officials say a fetus found in a Fort Wayne sewer overflow house was 14 to 15 weeks in development. The Journal Gazette reported Wednesday ( http://bit.ly/A6dlLP ) that the Allen County Coroner's Office stated a fetus cannot survive outside the womb at that stage of development and is considered to be non-viable. Coroners could not determine the sex of the fetus and it had no deformities or obvious signs of trauma. Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Raquel Foster says a miscarriage likely occurred.