In case you missed it: 3 recent Springfield crimes

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Here are three crime stories the Springfield News-Sun reported recently.

1.  Springfield man allegedly overdosed at gas pump with children in car

Jesse Breese, 33, is charged with four counts of endangering children. He pleaded not guilty and his bond was set at $2,000.

Springfield police began their investigation on Sunday, Nov. 3, when they were called to the Speedway at 1314 E. Main Street in reference to a possible overdose.

“Officers were advised that medics located Mr. Breese near pump two, partially responsive,” the affidavit says. “They confirmed there were four children with him. Medics placed Mr. Breese inside of the ambulance at which time Mr. Breese became completely unresponsive.”

RELATED: Springfield man accused of overdosing while pumping gas with children in the car 

Narcan was administered at that time, the affidavit says.

“I reviewed video surveillance at Speedway,” the affidavit says. “I observed Mr. Breese’s SUV pull next to pump two. Mr. Breese exited the vehicle and started trying to pump gas. Mr. Breese quickly became very unsteady on his feet and started falling down. He appeared to be very incoherent in the video. Shortly after, four small children exited the vehicle and began running around the vehicle, jumping on top of it, etc.”

A next court date in the case has not been set.

2. Man pleads guilty to stealing $750K from Honda 

Charles Michael Stratton, 62, of Fairborn, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to wire fraud and money laundering. He is accused of conducting a scheme that stole more than $750,000 from Honda.

Stratton was the facilities manager for Honda in Marysville from 2008 until March 2015, according to an indictment filed in the case. In his role, he oversaw various vendor contracts, including those for security services, janitorial services, food service and uniform/laundry on behalf of Honda, according to a press release by the United States Attorney’s Office.

The attorney’s office and the indictment explains a complicated scheme Stratton used to defraud money.

“Stratton executed a scheme to defraud Honda using Acrux and Surmount by creating multiple purchase orders for payments in amounts just under $100,000, a threshold in which additional oversight and approval is required. Using these purchase orders, as well as the main labor contract, Stratton caused Acrux and Surmount to submit false invoices to Honda and instructed them to keep the money in a “future fund.’”

RELATED: Man accused of using defunct Springfield non-profit to steal $750K

Some of that money then was used to pay Stratton directly or through his organization, SAFE (Springfield Area Fastball Elites, Inc.) the attorney’s office said. SAFE was an Ohio non-profit created by Stratton to support local baseball teams; however, SAFE lost its classification as a 501(c)(3) in 2010, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

“Stratton also defrauded at least three other Honda vendors through the solicitation of donations for SAFE between 2012 and 2014, when it no longer held its tax-exempt status,” the attorney’s office said. “Stratton received multiple donation checks, which he would either deposit in part to the SAFE bank account, while keeping a portion of the donation in cash for himself, or deposit the donation check entirely into his personal account. Only a fraction of the funds received through donations were actually spent in furtherance of SAFE’s mission.”

As part of his plea, Stratton agreed to pay $750,635.95 in restitution to Honda and $10,000 in restitution to Scioto Industrial Services, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He is facing a maximum of 30 years in prison.

A pre-sentencing investigation was ordered in the case and Stratton is due back to the court on Jan. 15, according to online court records.

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

3. 19-year-old said he had loaded gun at Tecumseh for protection 

Chase Harris, 19, of Springfield, was charged with several felonies including improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and illegal possession of deadly weapons in a school safety zone.

Not guilty pleas were entered for him on Thursday, and his bond was set at $5,000. As a condition of his bond, he is not allowed to be on Tecumseh High School property while his case is pending.

His charges stem from an incident that caused Tecumseh Middle School and Tecumseh High School to temporarily go into a level one lockdown on Wednesday.

The district’s resource officer, Deputy John Loney said he got a tip that a person was headed to the high school to pick up a student — possibly with a loaded gun and drugs in their car.

Loney and another deputy spotted the car in the parking lot of Tecumseh High School. The driver was Harris, who allowed deputies to search his car.

RELATED: Springfield 19-year-old brings loaded gun to Tecumseh 

According to court documents, deputies found a .380 handgun in the center console, 10 rounds of ammunition in the gun’s magazine, a box of .30-30 ammunition and a chewing tobacco can that had a white powder inside.

He said the teen was cooperative during the incident, and the school was only placed on a lockdown as a precaution while things were handled outside.

“He stated he was carrying the pistol for his own protection,” Loney said. “Once we had him in the back of the patrol car and told him what he was facing — and that you’re on school property and all that — he admitted he realized what he had done. It was starting to sink in. He knew he was in trouble.”

Crew and Loney said they are thankful the situation didn’t escalate and they attribute much of that to having a resource officer in place in the district so that response times are faster.

Harris was not listed as an inmate in the Clark County Jail as of Sunday.

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