In case you missed it: 3 recent Springfield crime stories

1. Springfield man pleads not guilty to sex charges involving child

Zander Thomas, 33, pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition with a victim under the age of 13, court records show.

He was given a $10,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

A Clark County deputy responded to a residence in Bethel Twp. on Feb. 2 in reference to a sexual assault of a juvenile, the affidavit says.

RELATED: Springfield man arraigned from allegations of inappropriately touching a child 

The juvenile was interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center on Feb. 7.

She told investigators that Thomas was “tickling her legs and stomach, and he unbuttoned her jeans” touching her inappropriately under her clothes, according to the affidavit filed with the case.

Thomas admitted to the incident, the affidavit says.

Thomas was arrested on Feb. 10 on two counts of gross sexual imposition.

2. Urbana man sentenced to jail after attempting to meet 12, 13-year-old girls

Michael Fowler Jr., 46, was sentenced to 180 days in the Clark County Jail on Monday, according to Clark County Municipal Court records. Fowler was found guilty of criminal child enticement on Jan. 21.

Fowler must also register as a Tier I sex offender.

German Twp. police arrested Fowler on May 25 after a planned meeting with a 13-year-old and 12-year-old girl turned out to be with police officers instead, according to an affidavit filed with the case.

Fowler was Snapchat messaging the 13-year-old when the girl’s mother took her daughter’s cell phone and discovered there were several messages between him and her daughter, according to the affidavit.

“It was obvious that (Fowler) was trying to meet her daughter in person and did engage in conversation about a sex act,” the affidavit said.

The conversation moved from the photo and messaging app to text messages, where the girl told Fowler she was in the seventh grade at a Clark County high school.

“He suggested that they meet in person and that he would meet her at the high school and if she left the school he would take her to breakfast one day,” the affidavit said.

The girl’s mother turned over the phone with screenshots of the conversation to police, and also contacted a mother of a 12-year-old girl who was a friend of her daughter’s, “who has also had Snapchat conversations with (Fowler),” the affidavit said.

RELATED: Urbana man to appear in Montgomery County, after being sentenced in Clark County for child enticement 

Both mothers gave German Twp. police permission to search the contents of the girls’ phone. After police downloaded the information from the cellphones, Fowler continued to send Snapchat messages to the 13-year-old wanting to meet her in person, the affidavit said.

The 13-year-old’s mother agreed to allow officers to send Fowler a text message agreeing to meet him and saying she would be coming with the 12-year-old girl.

At the time of his arrest, Fowler was in possession of 38 zip ties, a pill bottle of Viagra, a sex toy, “a marijuana cigarette”, a bottle of CIROC red berry alcohol and a bottle of Crown Royal Vanilla, according to a German Twp. Police Department property receipt.

Fowler must now answer to more child sex charges in Montgomery County. He is accused in Clay Twp. of exchanging illicit photographs with multiple juveniles.

He is charged with eight counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, one count of attempt to commit tampering with evidence and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Fowler is said to have met some of the victims in the case at a 2019 New Year’s Eve Party, where he had shown up.

Fowler is due in Montgomery County court on those charges on March 12.

3. Man pleads not guilty to Springfield crash that injured 2 

Ricardo Perez, 30, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicular assault and three misdemeanor charges, court records show. He was given a total bond of $13,000.

Officers were told by dispatch around 11 a.m. Sunday that a Dodge Grand Caravan, driven by Perez, was traveling north on South Yellow Springs Street while speeding and passing cars going about 70 miles per hour, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Dispatch told officers a witness was following behind Perez when he came to the intersection of South Yellow Springs and West Pleasant streets because he had struck his vehicle and fled the scene, the affidavit says.

“While on the phone with dispatch, (the witness) observed the Caravan run the red light and strike another vehicle,” the affidavit says. “(The witness) then told them a female was ejected out of one of the vehicles and was laying in the middle of the roadway. (The witness) stated a utility pole was struck as well and that wires were all over the road.”

RELATED: Man pleads not guilty to Springfield crash where one victim was transported with life-threatening conditions 

When crews arrived, they saw the downed wires, a woman”with significant injuries” laying in the street, and two men trapped inside the Caravan, the affidavit says.

The woman, identified as Angel Coy, 42, was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center then later taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in life-threatening condition.

The passenger in the Caravan, identified as Onesimo Perez Morales, 23, was taken to SRMC and then later taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital in life-threatening condition. Perez was taken to SRMC in non-life threatening condition.

While investigating the crash, officers noticed at least five empty beer bottles laying under and inside the Caravan, the affidavit says.

Perez was charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, red light violation, no driver’s license and operating a vehicle while under the influence, the affidavit says.

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