WILMINGTON — While en route to the Wilmington highway patrol post to start his morning shift, a trooper sighted a disabled vehicle and stopped to assist, but his badge produced a foot chase and ultimately a prison sentence for the motorist.
Bobby Joe Wynnie Reed, 26, of Springboro, was given a 36-month prison sentence in Clinton County Common Pleas Court on convictions of tampering with evidence, two counts of receiving stolen property, and one count felony vandalism.
In a January 2018 affidavit, Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper J.B. Priest said he observed the disabled vehicle on the side of State Route 73 in Clinton County and pulled behind the pickup truck and trailer to help. The man and a female who were standing outside the vehicle “started acting nervous as I approached,” stated Priest.
Both of them reached inside the vehicle “as if to conceal something,” added the trooper. While speaking with the man, Priest noted the truck did not have a registration on it. He then told the man to put his hands behind his back because he was being placed in investigative detention.
After the man started to comply, he “pulled away and fled on foot,” said Priest. Then Priest chased the driver several hundred yards before catching him.
While the man, later identified as Reed, was running, he took his jacket off and threw it, the trooper stated.
After getting caught, Reed allegedly continued to resist the trooper, and Priest stated he held Reed down until back-up police arrived to cuff him.
The discarded jacket was retrieved and it had a container of white powder, states the affidavit. After Priest returned to the vehicle, he discovered the Ford pickup truck and trailer were stolen.
“I searched the vehicle and located drug paraphernalia, criminal tools and drug-related items all over the vehicle. A stolen license plate was also located inside the truck,” said Priest.
In the indictment, the criminal tools are identified as a screw driver, walkie talkies, and a hacksaw. That charge was dropped as part of a negotiated plea settlement, as were a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge, and one count of receiving stolen property.
The conviction for tampering with evidence is a third-degree felony offense, which is the maximum-level charge Reed faced here.
When Reed was sentenced in Clinton County in late December, he already was incarcerated in state prison for a Warren County case. In February 2018, he received a four-year prison term out of Warren County for drug trafficking and for aggravated possession of drugs.
His Clinton County prison sentence will be served concurrently with the Warren County prison term.
As part of his Clinton County sentence, he is ordered to pay $1,256 to one theft victim, and $625 to another theft victim.
The felony vandalism charge, of which Reed was found guilty, stems from damage to the pickup truck which the owner uses in her profession, business, trade, or occupation, according to the language of the indictment.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
