A 48-year-old man was arrested Wednesday evening after failing to stop for Bellefontaine Police, leading officers to find suspected heroin and other drug-related items inside his vehicle.
According to the Bellefontaine Police Department, officers were doing traffic enforcement around 8:30 p.m. near the Love’s Travel Stop on State Route 540 when a gray GMC Yukon caught their attention for following another vehicle too close.
The SUV was traveling less than one car length behind a white Honda van and continued tailgating the van as both vehicles entered the westbound U.S. Route 33 ramp.
Police said the GMC then aggressively passed the Honda on the left before quickly merging back into the right lane.
Officers activated emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop near the water tower on U.S. Route 33.
Instead of stopping immediately, the driver continued westbound, activated a turn signal as if he intended to pull over, exited onto U.S. Route 68 North, rolled through the stop sign at the end of the ramp, and continued northbound.
After officers activated a siren, the vehicle finally stopped south of Northview Drive.
The driver, William Oglesbee, complied with officers’ commands and was detained.
While being handcuffed, police say Oglesbee told officers, “I have drugs.”
He also admitted he did not have a valid driver’s license.
When asked about the drugs, Oglesbee initially told officers there was marijuana in the vehicle’s floorboard and denied having anything else illegal inside.
A records check revealed Oglesbee had an active Logan County Sheriff’s Office warrant for non-support of dependents and confirmed that he did not possess a valid driver’s license.
Oglesbee consented to a search of the SUV.
During the search, officers found a small black bag on the driver’s side floorboard containing three syringes, a metal spoon, and a plastic bag containing an unknown powder.
When officers asked whether the substance was fentanyl for safety reasons, Oglesbee stated it was heroin, not fentanyl.
He told police there was only a small amount of heroin, estimating it at less than one-half gram.
The suspected heroin was field tested, but the results were inconclusive.
The substance will be submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for further analysis.
Oglesbee was taken into custody on the outstanding warrant.
Additional charges related to the suspected heroin are pending the results of testing.
