Three people arrested for unrelated charges following Columbia motorcycle crash
Three people were arrested Tuesday after a motorcycle crash at a Columbia motel.
The crash was reported around 8:30 a.m. at America’s Best Value Inn on I-70 Drive Southwest.
34-year-old Julie Miles was learning to ride a motorcycle in the parking lot when she lost control and crashed through a window.
Officers caught up to the owner of the bike, Raymond Crites.
Crites had a warrant out for failure to appear on charges of not having insurance and license plates.
Someone gave police a tip about other guests at the motel printing counterfeit checks while they were investigating the crash.
Officers got a warrant to search the room, where they found meth, marijuana, a check stock, laptop, printer, and several documents with stolen financial information.
Neighboring guests told ABC 17 they saw police take out syringes, baggies, pipes, a computer and more.
Danielle Dakon and Thomas Culver were arrested on several charges.
According to court documents, Dakon told police Culver had a computer and printer in the room that he used to counterfeit checks. She said Culver would steal trash outside of homes and then look through it for bank information. Dakon told police Culver would enter that information onto a specialized computer program.
Dakon also told police she thought there were cut up credit cards in the room that Culver was trying to counterfeit. Dakon said Culver would contact other people and pay them to cash the fake checks.
Two children with Dakon and Culver were taken into protective custody, and a dog was also removed from the room.
ABC 17 also talked to a woman working in the building behind the motel. She said everyone in her office is on edge because police are constantly at the motel. She said they are working to put dusk-to-dawn lights on all of the existing light posts in her parking lot. And said the building landlord is looking into putting up an 8-foot fence in between the two lots.
According to police dispatch records, officers have responded to America’s Best Value Inn more than 120 times in the last year.
