Man indicted who had marijuana growing inside home
The Ross County Grand Jury presented 23 indictment cases Friday, 22 were returned of those 6 were open.
The Grand Jury indicted Ashley Vest on a Second Degree Felony of Robbery, stemming from an incident at K-Mart on Bridge street on July 2nd. She was observed by Loss Prevention placing a hat and makeup into a bag then exiting the store. Members of Loss Prevention confronted Vest and escorted her back into the store with out incident.
Chillicothe Police were notified about Vest when she suddenly started to hit the members of Loss Prevention and claimed she had a knife and that she would kill them.
Vest then ran out of a door in back of the store and was later found in Delaware Court claiming to be someone else when confronted by Police.
The Grand Jury also indicted 49-year-old William Miller II on a Second Degree Felony of Robbery, stemming from an incident when he attempted to steal a security camera from Menard's on July 5th. Menard's employees told police Miller, walked out of the store without paying for a security camera, so they confronted him outside. Three employees said Miller tried to run and was taken to the ground, but they let him up when he said he would cooperate. They said he then tried to hit a male employee, who ducked, and, as a result, Miller punched a female employee.
Miller has numerous prior Felony Convictions that include Possession of Cocaine, Caring a Concealed Weapon, Failure to Comply and Weapons Under Disability.
Also indicted Ervin Howard Jr. on 3 Felony Counts including Possession of Drugs, Possession of Marijuana, and Illegal Cultivation of Marijuana.
Police received a tip that cocaine was being sold and marijuana was being grown in a home on E. Water St. back on April 18th.
Detectives came to the home and were given permission to search the residence and found grow lights inside the home.
Detectives could smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the garage. Howard then requested that officers stop searching the home, as detectives were obtaining a search warrant Mr. Howard ran inside the house attempting to reach for a basket.
Officers located 1.6 grams cocaine inside that basket. In a basement room under the garage detectives found a very sophisticated marijuana grow operation. A total of 52 marijuana plants that equaled to 316 grams, were seized with an estimated street value of $52,000. An estimated $8,000 worth of equipment was also recovered.
