She told the officer no one had permission to use the vehicle and she had all the keys to it in her possession.
The officer confirmed it had not been towed and issued a stolen vehicle report for officers to watch for it.
Approximately two hours later, another officer on patrol in the parking of Parkview Arms Apartments saw a car matching that description enter the parking lot and the officer recognized the driver from previous contacts. The driver was known as Dustin A. Hall, 28, and was known to have multiple warrants for his arrest. The officer pursued the vehicle through the parking lot but was unable to keep up because the vehicle was going too fast and the officer slowed because of pedestrians in the area.
The vehicle stopped in the rear parking lot and Hall ran through a breezeway, ignoring orders to stop. He tried a doorknob of one of the apartments but continued to run when the door would not open. He turned a corner and the officer lost sight of him. Other police units responded but they were unable to locate him.
A detective responded to photograph the vehicle and contents. The ignition had been punched and a screwdriver stuck in the dash. An uncapped hypodermic needle and spoon were found near the driver’s seat and another spoon in the cup holder.
The woman who had reported the theft of the vehicle was called to the scene and took possession of it after all the evidence was collected.
The officer requested warrants for Hall on charges of obstructing official business, possession of drug abuse instruments which was elevated to a first-degree misdemeanor due to prior drug abuse convictions, illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia and receiving stolen property.
Additional traffic violations include driving under suspension and six charges of failure to reinstate license.
Fifty items of property were confiscated from the vehicle by police including a wide range of things from 18 items of miscellaneous clothing to several tools, a bandanna, three pairs of tennis shoes, jerseys, the drug items and screwdriver, gloves, umbrella, two cell phones and an iPad, folding knife, an empty box to an iPhone
Several of the items had identifying information on them indicating their owners.
The officer contacted a Miami student by phone at his Columbus home with information about items found belonging to him. Those included an expired Ohio driver’s license, Social Security cards, a VISA card and a file folder of personal information such as checks and W2 forms.
The student identified the items as his from the phone description and said he did not know Hall and he did not have permission to have any of it. He arranged with the officer to come back to Oxford to provide a written statement and said he and his roommates had left town on March 20 and no one should have been in the house on North Main Street.
The officer contacted one of the roommates who identified several of the items as his by description over the phone. A third roommate was not able to be reached but both of them had reported the third man had cleared out most, if not all, of his property before leaving.
The officer went to the house where the three had lived and found a rear door ajar. The house had been ransacked and items thrown everywhere. It was determined larger items were also missing, including a 50-inch plasma television, a surround sound system, Xbox One and a 22-inch computer monitor. A detective was called to process the scene.
Also confiscated were a debit card and plastic bag of electronic cords and television remotes.
An empty Apple repair return box with another person’s identification on it was also among the items. There was a name on that box but the officer was not able to contact that victim.
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