Staff Reports
A local man was arrested in multiple charges after being accused of stealing a vehicle by force in Columbus after forcing his way into a local home.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Deputy Dylan Prather was sent to the 6000 block of State Road 9, south of Hope, at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday about a report of a battery, deputies said.
Prather was told the individual involved in the battery was possibly the same man who had stolen a vehicle by force in the city and was possibly armed.
Prather saw the stolen vehicle in the residence driveway and — assisted by deputy Ryland Fluhr — located a firearm inside the vehicle, deputies said.
The homeowner said a male had forced his way into the home and then fled after an altercation that occurred when the suspect attempted to steal another vehicle parked in the driveway.
The Columbus Police Department K9 unit and a Columbus Fire Department drone assisted in efforts to locate the suspect, who was found hiding in a field. After the suspect — later identified as Wilmel Ramirez-Savinon, 22, of 2215 Sims Court — did not respond to commands to surrender, he was apprehended by K-9 Max.
Ramirez-Savinon was arrested on preliminary charges of battery, burglary resulting in bodily injury, theft, unlawful entry of a vehicle and resisting law enforcement.
He was being held in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $92,000 bond, jail officials said.
