WILMINGTON — A recent article in The (Hillsboro) Times-Gazette helped lead to the arrest of a Hillsboro man sought by police on felony firearm charges, officials said Tuesday.
Detective Scott Baker of the Wilmington Police Department said Trenton Zumwalde, 22, was apprehended in Cincinnati early Tuesday, five days after The Times-Gazette published an article in which Baker asked for tips regarding Zumwalde’s whereabouts.
“Someone saw the Gazette article and called a WPD officer they knew personally,” Baker said.
The story was also published in the Wilmington News Journal in print and online.
WPD Detective Josh Riley said tips led officers to Cincinnati, where Zumwalde was located at a halfway house and arrested without incident.
“We received information that he was at somewhat of a halfway house facility, and once we figured out exactly where that was located, we made contact with some folks with the Ohio Department of Corrections and informed them of his location, and they made an arrest on him,” Riley said.
Riley said Zumwalde, who had been released from prison in July in a separate drug trafficking case, was cooperating with post-release control sanctions at the time of his arrest.
As previously reported by The Times-Gazette, Zumwalde was indicted by a Clinton County Grand Jury in September for having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony, and receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony, charges stemming from a May drug bust at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Wilmington.
At that time, local law enforcement officers and agents with the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force reportedly confiscated large quantities of contraband, including more than a pound of crystal methamphetamine, cash, a white Lexus believed to have been bought with drug money, and two handguns, one of which was in Zumwalde’s possession.
According to a case summary provided to The Times-Gazette by Baker, Zumwalde and a New Vienna man, Jesse Carpenter, were found in a hotel room with the handgun, ammunition, syringes and a small amount of marijuana after authorities knocked on the door and heard the toilet flush a number of times.
Zumwalde was arrested on a Highland County warrant for probation violations in the separate drug trafficking case, sent to prison several days later, then released in July, according to court records.
A federal drug trafficking case is pending against Foryst Rios and Karie Price, who were also arrested at the hotel after officers found drugs, cash and a pistol in the room in which they were staying, as well as more than a pound of crystal meth in the glove box of a white Lexus belonging to Price, the summary said.
The summary said authorities believed Rios and Price were “the main source of supply” of crystal meth in Highland County at the time, and Rios was suspected of obtaining it in bulk, “with an estimation of several pounds per week.”
According to the summary, Price at one point told officers that the group was selling drugs in Clinton County since they had no ties to the community, then mentioned Highland County Common Pleas Judge Rocky Coss by name, saying, “You know he (expletive) hammers people for drugs.”
Zumwalde is currently being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center awaiting court proceedings.
Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.
