After a preliminary hearing over an altercation between law enforcement and a 44-year-old Hutchinson man at the Reno County Courthouse was over, he was bound over for trial.
It happened back on November 14, when Jimmy Aston allegedly caused a disturbance over what was thought to be fraudulent checks.
Its started when he was arrested earlier by a South Hutchinson Police Officer for failure to appear in a South Hutchinson case. The officer noticed at the time some unusual checks but didn’t do anything on the issue at that time.
Later, he was spotted outside the courthouse where two sheriff deputies wanted to talk to him about checks he had that seemed unusual. Sheriff Sgt Shawn McClay took the stand and testified that Aston became upset, ran inside the courthouse where he started yelling at workers in the treasure’s department that they were trying to kill him. They caught up with him and the struggle began. McClay says they attempted to get him to the law enforcement center because of the possible danger to the public.
Hutchinson Police Detective Dean Harcrow who specializes in financial crimes cases was called to look at the checks and he thought they also appeared as fake. Later, a check with the bank showed they were good, in fact cashiers checks, but were for large amounts.
The defense argued that the checks were real and there was no reason for them to even approach him. But, McClay says they thought it was strange because at one point he said they were for roofing jobs, then later told them they were insurance checks for claims made. Plus they were all the same large amount.
The state argued they were conducting a legitimate felony investigation when they approached him outside the courthouse. Judge McCarville agreed that they had a reasonable suspicion and says all he had to do is cooperate. He ordered the case to arraignment and trial for interference with law enforcement.
Arraignment will be on Monday.