Chillicothe — The Ross County Grand Jury returned all 15 of their cases Friday, December 1st, 2023, with four open for release to the public. From testimony in the the grand jury in one of the cases, according to the Ross County Prosecutor’s Office:
While on patrol on December 19th, a police officer recognized 28-year-old Ethan James Fields of Renick Avenue walking through the Ross County Bank at 222 East Main Street.
Knowing that Field had a warrant for his arrest, the officer arrested him. Fields then reached his right hand into his sweatshirt, pulled out a small handgun, and tossed it – saying that he wanted to be honest about it.
A search of Fields found a cut drinking straw (which is commonly used to snort crushed pills). In response, he admitted he had relapsed from being clean.
While being processed at the Ross County Jail, a loaded needle was found on Fields.
Then when left alone but being monitored, he was seen removing something from his underware and shoving it into his crotch. When confronted about that, he denied it several times. He was then put through a body scan and an object was observed by his genitals.
He was clenching it, so a search warrant was executed…to find a baggie of capsules. Fields said it was Gabapentin (a.k.a. Neurontin, a Schedule 4 anticonvulsant and nerve pain medication). Fields said he was concealing them to avoid getting “dope sick” while in jail.
Fields has a prior April 2022 conviction on aggravated possession of drugs from Ross County Common Pleas, disabling him from having firearms.
For indictments on the third-degree felonies of having weapons under disability, and tampering with evidence, Fields could get up to a total of six years and $20,000 in fines.
Additional charges are pending drug results.
