Staff Report

Levi Alexander Woodruff

WARSAW — A Leesburg teenager was recently arrested for allegedly stealing a woman’s cellphone and making a false statement to law enforcement.

Levi Alexander Woodruff, 18, 172 EMS T26 Lane, Leesburg, is charged with theft where the value of property is between $750 and $50,000, a level 6 felony; and false informing, a class B misdemeanor.

On Aug. 24, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of a physical fight. Woodruff said a woman smacked the back of his head and shoved him.

According to court documents, Woodruff said he argued with the woman over a pair of clogs and attempted to grab them when the woman shoved him away, scratching his left arm and the back of his neck.

The woman said Woodruff pinned her against a wall, grabbed her cellphone and went outside. She told police she believed Woodruff threw the phone in a nearby channel.

The woman also denied scratching Woodruff, saying he possibly injured himself. The deputy noticed the woman’s fingernails were cut extremely short and were not damaged.

Woodruff admitted to throwing the woman’s phone into a channel, and law enforcement confirmed Woodruff used his dominant right hand to scratch his left arm.

Woodruff was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Aug. 25. He has an initial hearing at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in Kosciusko Superior Court One.