Police

A Colon husband and wife escaped serious injuries after the vehicle they were in went off the roadway and landed near the St. Joseph River. Michigan State Police officials said a car driven by Jennifer Hargas, 31, was southbound on Farrand Road when she swerved to miss striking a deer near Blossom Road around 9:30 p.m. Thursday in Colon Township …

Three Sturgis men are among 20 people from Michigan, Indiana and Ohio indicted on charges of running a major operation smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico for sale near Fort Wayne. Federal prosecutors last week said Gelacio Martinez, 36; Juan Pena, 20; and John Bennett, 35, were allegedly involved in the operation. All three face charges of conspiracy to distribute …

Two area residents were involved in a car crash Monday in Lockport Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said Carol Sission, 77, of Constantine, was southbound on U.S. 131 when she failed to stop at the traffic signal at Wilbur Road. Her vehicle struck a car driven by 29-year-old Colon resident Amber Laclair, who had the right of way …

A St. Joseph County resident avoided being the victim of a telephone-solicitation scam Tuesday. The resident received on their home phone a call from someone claiming to represent a company called YHG. The suspect indicated they would be sending new Medicare cards and just needed the potential victim’s name, address and account number off of a checking account belonging to …

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office and three other law-enforcement agencies have agreed to look into the unsolved homicide of Ada Haradine, an Elkhart resident. Haradine disappeared from her home in May 1985 and was reported missing by her family that day and investigated by Elkhart Police. Her remains were found three years later in the Cass County community of Union. …

A White Pigeon woman was ticketed for being unable to stop within an assured distance following a two-vehicle accident Monday in Sturgis Township. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said Tambra Bryant, 48, was cited after she swerved to avoid striking the rear of a car that had slowed on westbound U.S. 12 in front of Lake Area Veterinary Clinic. …

Thirty chickens and a duck were reported stolen from a Mendon Township residence earlier this week. St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called Monday to the 23000 block of Portage Lake Road, where the victim told police the animals were taken late Sunday or early Monday. The animals were about two months old and different varieties.

A federal appeals court ruled last week that a jury should decide whether the rights of a Sturgis resident were violated by officers from the Sturgis Police Department. A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday rendered its opinion regarding the 2010 incident involving then-20-year-old Charles Smith over the theft of a phone charger from Walgreens …

For the second time in less than 10 days, a 75-year-old Constantine man was forcibly restrained while his residence was burglarized. Constantine Police Chief Jim Bedell said three men in the early morning hours of May 6 forced their way into a residence in the Whispering Pines neighborhood and tortured the man with second-degree burns on his legs and back. …

Two people were arrested over the weekend after they attempted to leave a Sturgis business without paying for more than $2,300 worth of merchandise. Sturgis police said the two suspects shortly before midnight Sunday tried to leave the Wal-Mart store on South Centerville Road through a side door with a cart full of electronics and other high-priced items, police said. …