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KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — State police have arrested the Galveston town marshal on charges of defrauding a school district that had hired him to provide buses.

Steven Jones, 47, of rural Kokomo, was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of delivering a false sales document and possessing a fraudulent sales document.

Indiana State Police said in a news release that Jones had been contracted through 2019 to drive school buses, which he owned, for Northwestern Schools in Howard County.

The school corporation had installed GPS equipment on one of Jones’ buses and had agreed to pay bills when the installation caused damage, the release said.

A state police investigation revealed the repairs were not completed. Police believe Jones created fraudulent invoices and submitted them to Northwestern Schools for reimbursement of the damage to the bus.

Jones was incarcerated in the Howard County jail with a $10,000 bond.

Galveston is a town of 1,200 in Cass County.

GALVESTON, Ind. (AP) — State highway officials are going to study a rural highway ramp in Howard County that’s been the site of three serious semitrailer crashes in the past three months.

The Howard County sheriff requested the review for the ramp where southbound traffic on U.S. 35 between Galveston and Kokomo has the option to stay on the highway or exit onto a county road. The Kokomo Tribune reports that in a September crash the trucker told police he wasn’t sure which way to go when he reached the sudden left turn to stay on U.S. 35.

Another trucker, 29-year-old Zackariah Anderson of Rushville, died in an August crash at the intersection.

State highway department spokesman Scott Manning said a traffic study will be completed to see whether changes will be recommended.

GALVESTON, Ind. — A Kokomo woman died Wednesday night when she went off the road and into a ditch, Indiana State Police report.

Around 10:15 p.m. that night, state troopers and Cass County sheriff’s deputies responded to Jeep that was traveling southbound on U.S. 35 near County Road 1150 South when it went off the road and struck several trees.

The driver, 33-year-old Heather Titus of Kokomo, was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 2-year-old girl who was a passenger in the Jeep was taken to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis for treatment of cuts and scratches.

State police say the crash is still under investigation, but that alcohol and narcotics are not suspected to be involved at this time.

GALVESTON, Ind. (WLFI) – A Cass County town is without a police force for the third time in less than two years. This comes after the resignation of the Galveston town clerk last week.

“I’m concerned about this town because my family lives here,” said Galveston resident Paul Hipsher. “It’s not safe without police protection.”

Galveston is without a police force, again. Town Marshal Gary Fordyce resigned, effective Friday.

It comes after less than a year in the position.

“He’s been the best police officer we’ve had in years,” said Galveston Town Council Vice President Butch Alcorn.

Fordyce replaced former Marshal Shawn Durham who was fired, rehired and let go again.

Now a Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy is temporarily serving in the position part-time. The town will have to depend on State Police and the sheriff’s office for help.

Hipsher said he worries the drive from the sheriff’s office in Logansport to Galveston is too long when it comes to emergencies.

“You can do a lot of damage in 20 minutes,” noted Hipsher.

Hipsher said Fordyce made about 17 drug-related arrests while Marshal. Now, he’s worried about the potential increase in crime until someone is hired.

Alcorn couldn’t say when that would be.

“It’s a wait and see,” said Alcorn. “You don’t know what to expect.”

Town council member Zach Zimmerman told WLFI that Fordyce’s resignation paperwork listed “other employment” as his reason for leaving.

GALVESTON, Ind. (WISH) — Galveston Town Marshal Gary Fordyce wishes he could forget what happened Tuesday night, but he wants you to remember.

“It’s a terrible situation,” he said. “Myself and the father were pulling him out of the water and I pulled the child out.”

Fordyce arrived at the creek at Galveston Park around 8:15 p.m. and spent more than a half hour searching for six-year-old Jacob Robinson, who’d slipped and fallen into the creek.

“I pulled him out and put him on the ground and Officer Zimmerman from the Fire Department initiated CPR immediately,” Fordyce said.

The CPR wasn’t enough.

Officers said Robinson died at the hospital.

“No one can imagine what it’s like to lose a child, especially in this fashion. Six years old,” Fordyce said. “No one can really get a grip on what it’s like for that family and what they must be going through.”

Streets in Galveston were still flooded Wednesday after heavy rainfall starting early in the week. Police said the rain raised the creek more than two feet and sent water gushing downstream.

Robinson is the third person in just five days to die in a water accident on a creek or stream in just five days. Investigators in Putnam County found a kayaker dead Monday and another kayaker died after being pulled from the White River.

“Practice safety. Keep your kids away from those areas because things like that can happen in a split second,” Fordyce said.

DNR officers said they’re waiting on autopsy results and interviews with family members to determine exactly what happened.

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GALVESTON, Ind. (WISH) — A 6-year-old boy who fell into a creek by a park Tuesday night died later at a Kokomo hospital.

Indiana conservation officers reported they are investigating the death of the boy, who was not named in a news release issued shortly after midnight Tuesday.

Authorities were dispatched about 8:15 p.m. to Galveston Park for a child missing in the water.

The boy was playing near a creek that flows near the park when he fell into the water, witnesses told authorities, and he was unable to be located.

Approximately 45 minutes after the initial 911 call, authorities found the boy in the water and immediately began CPR.

Medical personnel took the boy to St. Vincent Kokomo Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Howard County coroner said initial findings of an autopsy conducted Wednesday at Community Howard Regional Hospital in Kokomo show the cause of death was consistent with drowning. However, the final cause and manner of death are pending further investigation, conservation officers said.