County deputies investigate assault, littering cases

The following are excerpts from reports recently generated by the Texas County Sheriff’s Department:

•A deputy responded on April 4 to a report of two people trying to remove a stop sign at Bean Creek Drive and Cameron Road at Licking.

The officer made contact with two Licking residents at the location – ages 19 and 18 – who were drunk and said they had a friend who wanted a stop sign.

Probable cause statements were sent to the county prosecutor seeking charges against each suspect of vandalism and minor visibly intoxicated. People were contacted to pick up each suspect at the scene.

•On April 2, a deputy responded to Pittman’s Store on Highway 17 at Success.

Upon arrival, the officer made contact with three women who said they had given a man a ride and he began assaulting them. They told the officer they pulled into the store’s parking lot and told him to get out, but he continued to assault them and then ran into a nearby wooded area.

A 27-year-old man with addresses in Plato, Licking and Houston was identified as a suspect, and a probable cause statement was sent to the county prosecutor seeking charges against him.

•Beth A. Mikels, 64, of 8254 Morton Road in Houston, was issued a citation for littering on April 5.

On March 21, a man reported that a large amount of trash had been dumped on his Highway UU property, and evidence in the trash indicated it belonged to Mikels. A deputy reportedly contacted Mikels and told her to clean up the trash, but she failed to do so in a three-week period.