Police are investigating a phone scam incident in which an elderly Columbus resident lost a significant amount of money.

The resident was called and, believing the caller was a family member, agreed to purchase two prepaid debit cards and load them with a large amount of money.

The resident was then instructed to call back someone who was allegedly an attorney and give the individual access numbers to the cards.

The Columbus Police Department warns this is a scam, and legitimate attorneys do not operate in this fashion, said Sgt. Matt Harris, police spokesman.

Harris asked residents to call the police if you receive such a call asking you to wire money or use prepaid debit cards to pay money to an unknown individual.

This is just one of many similar types of phone scams going around, Harris said.

Tuesday afternoon, the police department received five reports of someone saying they were from the Internal Revenue Service and were demanding payment of back taxes by phone.

This, too, is a scam, Harris said. The IRS doesn’t threaten people on the phone or ask for payment by phone, he said. These calls also should be reported to the police department, he said.

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If you are contacted by a person claiming to be a family member or someone else needing financial help, have the Columbus Police Department check it. Call the police at 376-2600 to report the incident or other phone scams.

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The Columbus Police Department credits an observant local resident with helping officers catch an individual they say burglarized Harold’s Car Wash.

Police were called about 4:20 a.m. Sunday to the car wash in the 2700 block of Brentwood Drive by an observer who reported a suspicious vehicle in one of the wash bays, said Sgt. Matt Harris, police department spokesman.

As Lt. Jeff Williams approached, a man wearing dark clothing left the building and refused to stop when Williams ordered him to do so.

Williams pursued him on foot across the Rural King parking lot and onto Middle Road, where he caught the man near U.S. 31, Harris said.

The man was identified as Arnold Wesley Harrison, 50, 311 Hege Ave., who is being held on preliminary charges of burglary and resisting law enforcement, Harris said.

He is being held in the Bartholomew County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bond, jail officials said.

Staff Reports

A 12-year-old girl and a 19-year old man were arrested in Bartholomew County after a carjacking and vehicle and foot pursuits by police.

Bartholo-mew County Sheriff’s deputies later learned that the girl was reported as a runaway from Jacksonville, Florida.

At approximately 4:20 a.m. Saturday, deputies were informed the Columbus Police Department was investigating a crash near the 66-mile marker on Interstate 65 North. During the investigation, a driver stopped to see if the occupants of the crashed vehicle needed assistance.

The girl and Rodolfo Gonzales Ramirez, of West Palm Beach, Florida, stole the driver’s gold Buick Rendezvous, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department.

The sport-utility vehicle was observed heading north on I-65. Ramirez then exited I-65 and traveled south on U.S. 31. Deputies Gary Knoef and Nick Martoccia initiated a felony stop near the Red Roof Inn. Knoef yelled verbal commands to the driver, but Ramirez quickly drove away. Several police units pursued, the release stated.

Stop sticks were requested, and Columbus Police Department officers placed them in the area of U.S. 31 and Lowell Road. Deputies believe the vehicle struck the stop sticks, although Ramirez continued southbound on Indianapolis Road, according to the release.

Approaching the curve, just north of the roundabout, at a high rate of speed, Ramirez drove over the curb and wrecked the SUV just off the south side of the roadway.

Ramirez and the juvenile girl fled on foot running through the parking lot of Mill Race Center. Deputies Knoef and Martoccia gave chase on foot. Edinburgh Police Department Officer Junior Little, who assisted in the chase, stopped the girl, the sheriff’s department said.

Ramirez stopped running and turned to face Knoef and Martoccia. Ramirez said he did not have any weapons, but he would not follow the deputies’ directions. Ramirez eventually laid face-down on the ground and was arrested.

Columbus police took the girl and Ramirez into custody. According to Bartholomew County Jail officials, he was booked on preliminary charges of:

Auto theft, a Level 6 felony.

Contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Level 6 felony.

Resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, a Level 6 felony.

Criminal recklessness, a Class A misdemeanor.

Resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.

Leaving the scene of an accident, a Class C misdemeanor.

Ramirez was being held on a $7,500 surety bond.

The girl was arrested on a preliminary charge of auto theft and is being held at the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center, according to the sheriff’s department.

A local automotive equipment distributor has received a tax abatement to expand its warehouse in the Woodside Industrial Park.

TechTop Realty LLC, which leases the 55,000-square-foot warehouse to LHP Technologies, plans to spend $2 million to add 60,000 square feet of space.

It received an abatement Tuesday night from the Columbus City Council for additional taxes that come about as a result of the investment.

Once the warehouse is complete, the company will see gradual increases in its tax bills during the next 10 years, rather than paying taxes on the improvements immediately. The company also received an abatement in 2008.

Ryan Hou, CEO of both companies, said the expansion is necessary because the existing warehouse is full, mostly with products from all sections of the automotive industry waiting to be distributed to area customers.

It also will mean adding at least two jobs, a conservative estimate for the additional hands needed to work in the larger space, by August 2016, he said. Those jobs will bring the total number of workers at LHP Technologies to 12.

Mayor Kristen Brown and city council members congratulated Hou and LHP Technologies general manager Steve Gilley on the growth and thanked them for providing more local jobs.

Even though LHP Technologies is small, it is growing, and the expanded facility will enable the company to attract more customers and partners to the city and to the state, Hou said.

It’s also part of a greater family of companies, including LHP Software and LHP Solutions, both at 305 Franklin St., headquartered at LHP Corp., at 1888 Poshard Drive near the city’s municipal airport. Overall, the companies employ upward of 200 employees, according to the Columbus Economic Development Board.

A result of the first Chinese investment in Columbus, the company’s original commitment and expansion demonstrate the importance of the Columbus Economic Development Board’s annual delegations to Asia, Hou said. He and his wife, Jean, a former Cummins Inc. executive, regularly join the board on those trips.

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LHP Technologies LLC warehouses and distributes automotive equipment for and to various local and regional manufacturers. Organized in 2006, it and TechTop LHP Realty are both at 6889 S. International Drive in the Woodside Industrial Park.

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Last weekend’s “Dancing with the Stars … Columbus Style” drew a combined crowd of about 900 people for two shows and nearly $60,000 in receipts.

Fundraising totals fell short of $100,000 brought in last year, when a bigger field of dancers generated more donations. Members of the audience vote for their favorites, making a $1 donation for each vote cast.

Children Inc. and Family School Partners will receive about $25,000 each after event expenses are paid, said Brenda Flanagan, executive director of Children Inc.

While they hoped to raise more, Flanagan said organizers were nonetheless pleased with the outcome.

“$60,000 really is in line with what we did in the previous years,” she said.

The funds will go toward Children Inc.’s child care program and early childhood education programs at Family School Partners.

Flanagan said the money Children Inc. receives will pay for anything from costs of operations to school supplies.

“If we have children who are on our waiting list and are needing scholarships, we will use some of those dollars,” she said.

Stacy Findley, program coordinator at Family School Partners, said the funds make up about 25 percent of the organization’s annual budget. Getting the money means more families will have the opportunity to use the group’s services.

Those opportunities are available to families with children who are infants and up to 5 years old. The program is free, Findley said, and wouldn’t be possible without the dancing event.

“Dancing with the Stars is very important for our organizations because we actually rely on the funding,” Findley said. “Where it is just a great event for the community, essentially it is an event that funds our programs.”

Flanagan said the success from last year’s dancing contest could be attributed to a variety of circumstances:

There were eight dancing groups compared with five this year.

There were more voters involved last year.

Early voting was successful last year.

All seats for last year’s matinee and nighttime performance sold out.

Organizers said they were appreciative of the community support and the commitment from dancers and event volunteers.

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Here’s a list of the couples who danced who finished in the top three at the “Dancing with the Stars … Columbus Style” competition, ranked by amount of donations:

1. April Williams and Brent Byers

2. Christopher Bartels and Jana Bartels

3. Brett Vanderkolk and Charlotte Battin

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Columbus City Council member Ryan Brand has filed for the GOP nomination for a second term in District 2.

Brand, 41, has represented the District since defeating Democrat candidate Max Lemley in the Nov. 8, 2011, municipal election.

He also serves as a member of the Columbus Area Arts Council board and The Commons board, something he plans to continue if re-elected.

Brand said he still has a lot of work to do for district constituents and is seeking a second term to represent their concerns.

Attracting new economic development, jobs and businesses to Columbus is something Brand plans to pursue, specifically with the help of the city’s accumulating tax-increment financing funds, he said.

He also would like to continue working toward enhancing services offered to residents, whether it be to city employees or users of the city’s public facilities.

Brand said one of his greatest strengths as a councilman is his ability to moderate conversations between the council and the boards he serves on.

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Age: 41

Address: 422 Ninth St.

Employment: Business development manager at Elwood Staffing Services Inc. Tradesman division.

Current office held: Columbus City Council, District 2, 2011-present

Past office held: None

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Columbus at-large city councilman Kenny Whipker has filed for a second term.

Whipker has served in one of the council’s two at-large seats since being chosen by the party caucus to replace Aaron Hankins near the end of 2013.

He’s the first to file for an at-large council seat for the May primary.

The 59-year-old Republican said he wanted to run so he could continue providing service to the community.

“It’s pretty much what I’ve done most of my adult life,” Whipker said.

If elected to a full term, Whipker said, he would work to ensure there’s continued efforts toward strong infrastructure, public safety and other things that help attract good workers and new businesses, which generate the necessary revenue to enhance the city’s quality of life.

The former Bartholomew County sheriff, now a liaison to the Indiana Department of Correction for sheriff’s departments and county jails, said he’s familiar with managing budgets and personnel.

Whipker said he has had a learning curve for some things related to city government, but many are similar to things that he’s done with the county and the state.

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Age: 59

Employment: Executive liaison for Sheriff and County Jail operations at the Indiana Department of Corrections

Current office held: Columbus City Council, at large, 2013-present

Past office held: Bartholomew County Sheriff, 1999-2006

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