Officers from the Bellefontaine Police Department were dispatched Saturday morning around 2 AM to an apartment at 500 Gunntown Road.
The victim stated that a known male, identified as the arrested Jonathon Triplett, 32, had broken into her apartment again and sent her videos of him destroying items in her residence.
Upon arrival, officers observed a white Buick leaving the apartment complex. Officers were familiar with Triplett.
As officers turned around to follow the vehicle, its engine revved to a high RPM as it sped down the drive, failed to stop, and continued speeding across Gunntown Road into the driveway of Southtowne Meadows.
While going across Gunntown Road, a vehicle traveling westbound nearly struck the Buick as Triplett drove across due to him speeding and failing to stop. Triplett almost struck another vehicle that was parked.
A traffic stop was initiated.
Officers observed him exit the vehicle and directed him to put his hands up, but Triplett fled on foot eastbound. He was directed to stop and did not comply.
Police checked the area for Triplett, but were unable to locate him.
Officers observed the victim’s apartment lights to have been different from before. The living room light was on when they were called to the apartment, and now it was off. Also, when officers left earlier, the door to the apartment was unlocked and later it was locked.
Police could hear movement inside the apartment and sounds of additional items being broken.
Dispatch spoke with the victim and confirmed the victim was the only one with a key. Dispatch also confirmed Triplett no longer lived there for several weeks and no one should be inside the apartment at that time.
Other officers from the Bellefontaine Police Department, deputies from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrived on the scene to assist. After numerous knocks, Triplett refused to comply. For more than two hours, law enforcement could hear sounds from within the apartment and could see a silhouette through the windows moving around inside.
The Bellefontaine Fire Department retrieved a master key for the apartment.
The door was opened and Triplett was observed in the bed covered up. He was arrested.
Officers checked the apartment for additional damage. The televisions in the living room and bedroom were damaged, along with a sliding patio door and patio screen door.
While running Triplett’s criminal history, it was found that he did not have a valid operator’s license.
Triplett was charged with two counts of burglary (felony of the 2nd degree), vandalism (felony of the 5th degree), no operator license, failure to comply (felony of the 3rd degree), and obstructing official business (felony of the 5th degree).
