A COUPLE WEEKS OF COMMON PLEAS ITEMS

Now that I've finally got a little more time to sort through all my notes, here are two weeks worth of cases heard in the Court of Common Pleas over the past two weeks:

• Brandon Nathaniel Melton, 24, of Exton, pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance following an incident on March 14 at around 22:15, when P/O Christopher Craig arrested him on an active bench warrant. In a search incident to an arrest, P/O Craig found a green ziploc baggie which was sent to the Lima labs and tested positive for cocaine. He was sentenced to 1 year probation and 50 hours community service (CP-15-CR-0001818-2007) by Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr. This is not Melton's first run-in with the law:

• In 2002, he pled guilty to Burglary charges in West Goshen where he was sentenced to 3-to-12 months at CCP, 1 year probation, and ordered to pay $800 in restitution to his victm; in December 2001, West Goshen detectives investigated burglaries in the 200 block of Roberts Lane and the 1000 block of Laurel Drive. In the Roberts Lane incident, Melton gained access to the property through a second story window; upon his arrest at the Giant in West Whiteland, Melton directed detectives to a second location on Laurel Drive, where he forced open the rear basement door, causing $500.00 damage and stole approximately $80.00 in change that was located in a jar (CP-15-CR-0000169-2002);
• Around that same time, Melton pled guilty to a separate Attempted Burglary charge from West Whiteland where he was sentenced to 3 years probation after he attempted to break into a residence on the 1200 block of Country Drive by damaging the rear door of the residence, causing$37.00 in damages (CP-15-CR-0001303-2002);
• In 2004, Melton pled guilty to DUI and driving with a suspended license; on August 9, 2003 at around 00:50, a Westtown-East Goshen police officer spotted Melton driving erratically along Shady Grove Road in Westtown, then turning on a red light onto PA 926 where a sign prohibiting same was posted. Melton was stopped on the 1200 block of Cheyney Road in Thornbury where he failed field sobriety tests and ultimately came back with a .20 BAC. He was sentenced to 4-to-23 months in CCP on those charges, which violated his probation on the other cases (CP-15-CR-0004298-2003).

• Pedro O. Aguilar, 30, of Malvern, pled guilty to DUI and Simple Assault following a domestic dispute on the 100 block of South Adams Street. On February 12 at around 00:36, P/O Robert Kuehn responded to a report of a fight at the location. Upon arrival, the defendant was ordered out of his car. The victim said that Aguilar grabbed the couple's daughter, and later punched her in the nose, resulting in a bloody nose. The defendant then got into his vehicle and drove off before he was stopped a short distance away. Aguillar was sentenced to 72 hours to 6 months at Chester County Prison, ordered to serve 1 year probation, and lost his license to drive for a year(CP-15-CR-0001298-2007).
• Meanwhile, in Courtroom 11, Ashlee Boddy, 23, formerly of Oxford, pled guilty to robbery and assault charges following an incident at Bicentennial Garage last year. On October 15, 2005 at around 02:00, Boddy approached her victim in a vehicle, got out of her car, and struck the victim in the face. The force of the impact caused the victim to lose her purse, which was taken by Boddy. The purse was valued at $347.68 and contained the victim's ID, cellphone, check book and debit card. The debit card was used two days later at two locations in West Chester and two locations in Newark, Delaware. Boddy was declared a fugitive on July 20, 2006 after failing to answer the charges in District Court and was arrested on March 8 and arraigned by Judge Knapp, who set bail at 10 percent of $7,500. The case was remanded to Judge Bruno's court for a preliminary hearing a few weeks later, where the defendant waived same. Boddy was sentenced by Judge Phyllis Streitel to 2 years probation, a $1,000 fine plus court costs, order to pay restitution, and perform 48 hours of community service (CP-15-CR-0003145-2006).
• Hector Otero, 20, of West Chester, pled guilty to Simple Assault and Reckless Endangerment after a domestic at the Apartments for Modern Living complex at Matlack and Barnard Streets on February 1 at around 18:22. P/O Rey Melendez responded to the report of a fight at 201 S Matlack when the victim accused Otero of punching her multiple times during a fight. Otero grabbed the victim's face and pushed her with force, head-butter her, attempted to stab her in the neck with a screwdriver, and punched her in the ribs. The victim attempted to flee and was grabbed and kicked several times. Otero also pushed the couple's 7-month-old daughter in the face while the mother was being restrained by Otero. Judge Thomas Gavin sentenced Otero to 11 1/2-to-23 months at CCP (with credit for time served from the date of the arrest) and 2 years probation to be served consecutive to the prison term (CP-15-CR-0000657-2007).

More cases will be posted tomorrow as I make another visit to the Clerk of Courts to gather a fill in a few more gaps to present a full view of what's being dealt with here, including a 20-year-old destined to become the latest in a list of "frequent fliers" into and out of the system...