Staff Report
COLUMBIA CITY – A Warsaw woman was arrested for allegedly submitting a protective order under another person’s name and making false reports claiming a person needed assistance.
Ana Maria Catherine Phelps, 39, 627 Buck Trail, Warsaw, is charged with perjury, a level 6 felony; and false informing, a class B misdemeanor.
On June 19, a Whitley County Sheriff’s Office detective spoke with a manager at a local business about a protective order service that was attempted. The manager said the individual listed as the petitioner in the protective order was an alias for a person employed at the business.
According to court documents, the manager told police he believed someone fraudulently applied for the protective order under the employee’s alias. He stated this was due to the respondent listed in the protective order having a prior relationship with Phelps, who he alleged had a history of cyber impersonation and creating fake social media accounts.
On June 22, police spoke with the individual listed as the petitioner in the protective order. The individual said she never applied for a protective order and had no knowledge of how to do so.
Police then interviewed the respondent listed in the protective order on July 14. The respondent said he previously sent “flirtatious” messages to the individual listed as the petitioner, but that he stopped communicating with the individual when his relationship with Phelps became more serious.
Police later determined it was Phelps who applied for the protective order, listing the individual as the petitioner.
Officers also investigated a separate matter in December 2025 where a call was reported through a suicide hotline, stating the respondent was “taking pills and drinking.” Police went to check on the respondent, who said he was not suicidal and only taking medication prescribed to him by a doctor for an illness. The respondent also noted he had recently broken up with Phelps at the time.
In February 2026, police investigated ongoing issues of “swatting,” where an unknown individual called a suicide hotline seven times and reported the respondent was suicidal. Every time police investigated these calls, they spoke with the respondent, who said he wasn’t suicidal. The respondent also noted he had made numerous reports to police about receiving harassing text messages from an unknown individual.
During further investigation, police identified Phelps as the person who made the phone calls. In an interview with police, Phelps said the respondent liked attention and that he told her he received harassing text messages but could never show proof he was being harassed. She also alleged the respondent told her multiple times he wanted to kill himself.
Two men were also interviewed about Phelps’ connections to the respondent. Both men said the respondent lied and had been harassing Phelps.
Phelps has already been arrested and released on bond.