Plea change filed in burglary case

A filing for a change of plea was recently submitted in a case against Kristy Samples, who was scheduled for trial May 18 and 19 in District Court.

Samples is charged with burglary, which stems from a Sept. 20 incident during which Samples allegedly stole money and notebooks from her employer after she was relieved of her duties.

According to court documents, on Sept. 24 Samples’ former manager met with an officer, and said two other employees had discussed some missing money. The manager further stated review of security video footage shows Samples entering an area where the money was kept and leaving a short time later, prior to her turning in her keys as part of her being relieved.

After a warrant was served at Samples’ residence, she returned the notebooks but stated she did not take the money and believed her coworkers set her up.

Also in District Court, charges were dismissed against Harlan and Katherine Saltz, pursuant to a plea agreement. Harlan faced two counts of aggravated assault, while Katherine was charged with a single count of the same charge.

The charges were from an April 8 incident, during which the couple got into an argument with Benjamin (Terry) Tonn regarding Tonn’s dog. Harlan allegedly assaulted Tonn with a baton, and Katherine allegedly had a gun aimed at Tonn during the argument.

Tonn allegedly retrieved a gun to defend himself during the incident, and after things de-escalated, fired a shot in the ground. Harlan also allegedly fired a shot in Tonn’s direction after the fight ended.

Though the District Court charges against Harlan were dismissed, he was sentenced in Circuit Court for battery and reckless endangering, both misdemeanors, from the April 8 incident.

Harlan’s sentence includes six months jail time on each count, served concurrently, with 176 days suspension and four days credit. He also received a year of unsupervised probation, and fees and fines totaling $800.