Rural Bloomfield man fails to appear at initial hearings

A warrant was issued for a rural Bloomfield man who was a no-show at an initial hearing. He was arrested, bonded out, then was a no-show at another initial hearing. Another warrant was issued and he was arrested again over the weekend.

James Robert Shelton Jr

James Robert Shelton, Jr., 30, Bloomfield, was arrested by Deputy Michael Coy of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department over the weekend. Shelton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 5:05 p.m. Saturday, May 22. His bond was set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $1,000 and was released later the same day.

Shelton was arrested on a warrant issued because he failed to appear in court last Thursday, May 20, for an initial hearing. This was not the first time.

Shelton actually has two cases pending against him currently but this case dates back to an incident around 1 a.m. on January 15 when he was stopped by GCSD Deputy Michael Stanley east of Bloomfield.

Shelton was the driver of a cream 2004 Chevrolet Silverado that stopped in the middle of JL Wilson Road when Deputy Stanley was sitting in the parking lot next to the bridge. After the truck moved and pulled up to the stop sign at the intersection of SR 54 and JL Wilson Road then went west on SR 54, the deputy followed and noticed the license plate was expired. A traffic stop was conducted on North Warren Road.

Shelton knew his license was suspended but said he and his passenger had been working on the truck and were only out for a test drive. He said they stopped in the road to fix something. Shelton said he had not registered the truck in his name yet and he didn’t have insurance.

Shelton called a family member with a valid driver’s license to drive the truck back home and he was not arrested that night. But a criminal case was filed against him on preliminary charges of:

Driving while suspended – a knowing violation with a prior conviction within 10 years, a Class A misdemeanor, and

Operating a motor vehicle without financial responsibility, a Class C misdemeanor.

A summons was sent to Shelton ordering him to appear in court for an initial hearing. Shelton was a no-show and a warrant was issued.

He was arrested on Sunday, May 9 with bond set at $5,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $500 and was released the same day and told to be in court for his hearing on May 20.

That was last Thursday and again, he was a no-show. Another warrant issued. Arrested Sunday. This time bond went up to $10,000. Bonded out again.

Now he’s supposed to be in court on Thursday, June 3, for his initial hearing.

In another case pending against Shelton, he’s facing a charge of conversion, a Class A misdemeanor. Jaime Dawn Robinson is also facing the same charge connected with the same incident, investigated by Deputy Marshal Wayman JR Blazier of the Bloomfield Police Department.

In mid-April, a woman reported her white 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe as stolen. She said she believed Robinson was in possession of the truck and she had asked for it to be returned but Robinson refused. There was some confusion over whether the vehicle belonged to the woman or to her ex-husband but it was determined it had been awarded to the woman during a divorce. Det. Cullison advised the vehicle had been seen the day before at Robinson’s residence.

During the investigation, Officer Blazier talked to Shelton who said the woman who claimed she owned the vehicle had given the vehicle to him after he fixed it up. He said he’d been driving the vehicle for the previous six months but he didn’t have any paperwork that showed the vehicle had been given to him.

Robinson was driving the vehicle at the time when Blazier arrived at the residence. Shelton contacted her and told her to bring it back. When Robinson returned with the vehicle, the vehicle was returned to the owner and the conversion charges were filed against both Shelton and Robinson.

A summons was issued to Shelton to appear at an initial hearing on June 14.