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Another Early Birthday Celebration Merits Ticket

March 13th, 2013 by Thomas Wills

Filed under Hotchkiss

Hotchkiss Municipal Court February 13, 2013

Judge Lynn French presiding.

Hunter Logan Wellman, now 21, of Hotchkiss explained to Judge French that the reason he had gotten very drunk two days before his twenty-first birthday was that since his birthday fell on the day before a workday it seemed a good idea to celebrate at the beginning of the weekend and have two days to recover rather than go to work with a bad hangover.

The story: Deputy Marshal Gates Shaklee was summoned to a West Hotchkiss Avenue home at about 1:25 a.m. on November 24th.  A drunken male, who did not reside at that address, was passed out on the couch and could not be awakened and the resident wanted him removed.

Shaklee arrived and when he could not arouse the man the ambulance was sent for. Many beer cans and a partially consumed bottle of vodka were present.  The drunk young man (who was not Wellman and was 22) was finally awakened after some twenty minutes and it was related that another man, Wellman, who was said to be equally intoxicated, had recently set out walking to his home in Willow Heights.

Shaklee said that he then proceeded to Wellman’s home to make sure he had gotten there safely and was not “in a ditch somewhere.” He was home but when his mother attempted to awaken him he also could not be aroused so another ambulance was summoned.

When Wellman was finally roused Shaklee inquired as to whom had purchased the alcohol and offered to not charge him with underage consumption in exchange for the information. Wellman refused the deal and was ticketed.

Judge French found him guilty and fined him $50 plus $25 in court costs. Wellman also owed an additional $25 from a prior dog issue case.

The second and only other case of the evening was equally complicated. In January of 2012, Seth Clarence Anderson, 38, of Hotchkiss pleaded guilty to having an unlicensed dog running at large and was assessed fines and fees totaling $75. Anderson did not pay the fines or appear to explain why and instead moved to Florida.

In early January Anderson returned to the area and, because (according to Marshal Dan Miller) he is a registered sex offender, his first stop was to check in with Delta law enforcement. In the course of reregistering it was revealed that there was a contempt of court arrest warrant out on him from Hotchkiss.

He was arrested and placed in the Delta County Jail and remained there since he was unable to pay the $300 bond. Thirty days later he was transported to Hotchkiss in orange jail garb, handcuffs and ankle chains for his court appearance.

Judge French sentenced Anderson to time served and Deputy Chad Lloyd returned him to the Delta County Jail to retrieve his clothing and personal items.

 

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