The manager of the Marathon gas station, 236 N. Main St., has been closed for several months. The manager is accused of stealing nearly $40,000 from the store then making a false police report claiming she was robbed.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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A gas station manager, who allegedly stole nearly $40,000 then claimed she had been robbed, has been indicted.
Crystal Dawn Blake, 37, of 851 W. Fifth St., has been indicted for one count each of grand theft, falsification in a theft offense, tampering with evidence and making false alarms,
According to court documents, between Aug. 1 and Dec. 10, 2018, Blake was manager at the Marathon gas station on North Main Street.
“She was supposed to be making deposits on a regular basis, but she wasn’t,” said Assistant Union County Prosecutor Rick Rodger.
He said that when her bosses became aware she was not making the deposits, they confronted her.
“She told her boss she got robbed,” Rodger said. “She even made out a report that she got robber,” Rodger said.
In the police report, Blake claimed that on Nov. 23, she was walking near the intersection of Plum and Fourth streets when “unknown person forcibly removed her purse off her arm and shoulder.”
Rodger said that as police investigated, they began to find problems with her story. He said that police watched surveillance camera footage inside the gas station from the time she claimed she was robbed.
“She was actually inside the store, working during that time,” Rodger said.
Investigators learned Blake failed to make several deposits, totaling $38,197.
If convicted on all charges, Blake could face more than eight years in prison.
Also indicted was:
– Matthew Alan Kennedy, 32, of 12580 County Road, Kenton. Kennedy is charged with one count of tampering with evidence, stemming from a March 29, 2018 incident in Union and Hardin counties.
If convicted, Kennedy could face as many as five years in prison.
– Brandon Lee May, 21, of 1510 Fox Fire Drive. May is charged with one count of tampering with evidence. According to court documents, on Aug. 16, 2018, May allegedly cut off the ankle bracelet, he was court-mandated to wear as a condition of his probation. Investigators found the ankle bracelet off U.S. 33. Rodger said that after he allegedly cut his monitor, May went to Myrtle Beach South Carolina.
If convicted, May could face as many as five years in prison.
– Joshua Len Stevens, 41, of 57 S. Mill St. Milford Center. Stevens is charged with one count of domestic violence and one count of having weapons under disability.
According to court documents, on March 14, a child called 911 to report his father and stepmother fighting.
Rodger said when officials arrived at the home, Stevens was allegedly lying in bed, but “immediately jumped up and said ‘Cuff me. Let’s go to jail,’”
According to curt documents, Stevens and his wife were arguing and the argument turned physical.
“Joshua grabbed (the woman) by the hair and arm then pushed her out of the bedroom door into another room causing her to fall to the ground,” according to court documents.
Rodger said the defendant admitted he “chucked her out.”
The woman had a variety of facial injuries according to the report.
“During the time they were there, investigators found a couple of firearms,” Rodger said.
According to court documents, in 2009, Stevens was convicted of domestic violence in Marion County. Typically domestic violence is charged as a misdemeanor. However, once a person has a conviction, future allegations are charged as felonies. Additionally, because of the conviction on a violent offense, Stevens is prohibited from owning or living in a home with guns.
If convicted on all charges, Stevens could face six and a half years in prison.
– Phillip William Slane, 23, of 11480 state Route 36, Lot 4. Slane is charged with two counts of possession of heroin stemming from a pair of incidents, the first on Jan. 13 and the other on March 9.
If convicted, Slane could face as many as 36 months in prison.
– Erle Meredith Hale, 41, of Columbus. Hale is charged with one count each of trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine, stemming from a March 14 arrest. Hale was allegedly the passenger in a vehicle, stopped on U.S. 33. When the trooper approached the car, he “immediately detected the strong odor of raw marijuana.”
When the trooper questioned Hale about the odor of marijuana, he voluntarily handed over a cigar containing marijuana.
During a probable cause search of the vehicle, the trooper found “five plastic baggies containing crack cocaine.”
If convicted on both counts, Hale could face as many as 36 months in prison.