Motion to suppress evidence in drug case denied

BUCYRUS — A motion in Crawford County Common Pleas Court to suppress evidence in a drug arrest was heard Thursday afternoon.

Robert Skaggs, 46, formerly of Tennessee but currently incarcerated in the Crawford County Jail, appeared for the hearing with his attorney, Michael Siewert, to challenge the validity of Skaggs’ arrest and subsequent charge of possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony punishable with up to one year in prison.

It was Skaggs’ contention that the traffic stop and resulting arrest violated his civil rights due to an unlawful search and seizure. Also, at question was the length of the traffic stop and whether there was probable cause to extend the stop while waiting on a K-9 unit to do a sniff test on Skaggs’ car.

Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold reiterated the seriousness of the proceedings.

“A man’s constitutional rights are at issue here and whether this case proceeds to trial,” Leuthold said.

Because of the importance of clear testimony and a clear record of the proceedings, Leuthold excused the attorneys and witnesses from wearing masks when they had to speak or answer questions.

Leuthold explained that since the state had the burden of proving its case, the state representatives also had the right to present their case first.

Before the state began, Siewert told the court his client wanted to put on the record his formal denial of the plea offered in the case. Skaggs told the court, “I will not plead guilty to something I did not do.”

Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hoovler called Bucyrus Police Captain Joseph Greathouse to the stand. Greathouse is the interim Bucyrus City Police Chief since the retirement of Chief David Koepke.

Greathouse testified that he has 26 years with the Bucyrus Police Department and his rank was Captain at the time of the Skaggs’ arrest. Greathouse said he has worked almost all types drug cases in Crawford County. His work involves developing intelligence on the drug front, verifying that intelligence, doing surveillance and plain clothes work. Greathouse said he also drove an unmarked police vehicle.

“What brought Robert Skaggs name to your desk?” Hoovler asked.

“I received multiple tips over the years that Mr. Skaggs was bringing meth into our community, possessing it, and selling it,” Greathouse said.

Greathouse further said he knew Skaggs had family in the area and that he was a country singer in Nashville, Tennessee.

Greathouse said he started focusing on Skaggs in 2016 when he received a tip from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Hoovler asked Greathouse to explain the two-page document.

Greathouse said the document was from an unnamed source and was received on September 12, 2016. The intelligence suggested Skaggs was transporting drugs between Nashville, Columbus, and Bucyrus. He became a person of interest after that report.

On May 18, 2018, a call came into the Bucyrus Police Department Dispatch reporting suspicious drug activity involving Skaggs. The caller provided an address in Bucyrus where Skaggs was staying. The caller also told police how the drugs were being delivered by a FedEx truck.

Greathouse said while Skaggs remained a person of interest, it was hit or miss in tracking him because he maintained several addresses in Bucyrus and Tennessee.

The most detailed tip came from METRICH on July 21, 2019 and was forwarded to Bucyrus Police. The tip was from his girlfriend, who said Skaggs had meth hidden in various cases, muscle milk bottles and in the fake bottom of a WD 40 motor oil can. She described Skaggs mint green Chrysler 300 vehicle. She said Skaggs was scamming doctors for pills, having his brother provide urine for drug tests and other specifics including the times of day the deals were done, the many accomplices Skaggs had and that he knew important people in Bucyrus and could get away with things in Bucyrus because of those connections. The girlfriend gave details of payment and delivery of drugs.

On October 11, 2019, another tip was received by the Bucyrus Police Department from METRICH, a group of investigators from the Metro-Richland County area. Crawford County and METRICH cooperate regarding tips, information, and assistance in drug busts.

This tip offered the make of Skaggs car as well as the fact that he stays at the Bucyrus Holiday Inn Express when in town. The tip also said Skaggs supplies meth to both dealers and individuals in Bucyrus.

Greathouse testified that before the arrest on November 11, 2019, the information on Skaggs had been hit and miss. Greathouse said that in his surveillance work he had seen Skaggs and another person of interest at the same residences. He said he had observed Skaggs three or four times between October 11, 2019 and November 11, 2019.

In one observation on November 8, 2019, Greathouse said that while Skaggs was at his girlfriend’s residence, a motorcycle pulled up to the house, left the motor running and went into the house for a few moments, came back out and left.

Greathouse said he ran the plates on the motorcycle, and they were expired but the owner came back as an 88-year-old Massillon. Greathouse said he suspected the rider of the motorcycle was not the actual owner. Greathouse attempted to follow the motorcycle but lost contact with it.

On November 12, 2019, while working undercover, Greathouse was in an unmarked car looking for narcotic hot spots in the city when he observed Skaggs.

Skaggs pulled into a residence on Tiffin Street, went into a door and back out in a short amount of time. While Greathouse said he did not see Skaggs with any property from the location, Skaggs’ hurried behavior made him suspicious. He followed Skaggs going southbound where he observed Skaggs make a stop bar violation (stopping past the white line at a stop sign) and veering left of center.

Greathouse radioed Officer Jason Pennington to initiate a traffic stop. They both lost sight of Skaggs for about five minutes but figured out that Skaggs had turned around and eventually Pennington stopped Skaggs.

The state also presented the police report of the stop which included numerous videos of different angles from the car and body cam. The state and defense stipulated that the times on the videos did not exactly match but the time that expired during various events during the stop was the same.

Greathouse explained the diary of the dispatcher on the call. The first contact with the vehicle was 8:21 pm on November 12, 2019 when officer Pennington initiated the traffic stop. The Tennessee plates and driver’s license checked back to the driver of the car, Rob Skaggs.

Skaggs told the officer he was not familiar with the area and had dropped his phone while using the GPS. He said he was staying at the Holiday Inn Express and had come to town to see his girlfriend. Greathouse testified that Skaggs’ behavior was consistent with the tips he had received. When Skaggs said he was unfamiliar with the area, suspicion grew that he was hiding something.

Under cross-examination, Siewert asked Greathouse about records or reports written on the tips.

“I use the information from running license plates to keep information. These are ongoing investigations and not public information,” Greathouse said.

Siewert asked Greathouse if he understood the term.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Greathouse said, suggesting Skaggs had been set up by a jilted girlfriend. Siewert asked Greathouse if perhaps the motorcycle was related to the fact that Skaggs had a gig at the local Elks that night and someone stopped by to finalize the deal.

Siewert also noted that no follow-up had been done on any tips about FedEx trucks or PayPal payments. Greathouse agreed that they had not followed up on those tips. Siewert pointed out that the house that Skaggs and another person of interest were visiting at the same time happened to be a relative of Skaggs.

Siewert asked Greathouse why he called another officer to stop Skaggs.

“My purpose was not to work traffic even though I could,” Greathouse said.

Because of the time differences on the various videos, Leuthold called a recess and viewed the tapes in chambers. When he returned, he noted that even though the times on the tapes and videos were different, the same number of minutes elapsed between the events. Both the state and defense agreed to those facts and the state then called officer Pennington to testify.

Pennington has been a second shift patrol officer with the department for five-and-a-half years. He was working with a partner on the night of the stop. At the request of Greathouse, Pennington performed a traffic stop on Skaggs.

Pennington said he approached Skaggs at the driver’s side window and talked to him about the violations. He noted that Skaggs’ left arm was shaking very badly. When asked about it, Skaggs said he had been removing snow with his hand and it was just cold. Pennington said the he observed that Skaggs arm sleeve was not wet.

Skaggs told him he was not familiar with the area and not used to the snow. Pennington said he was shaky and nervous. Pennington asked permission to search Skaggs’ car and Skaggs declined. Pennington’s partner asked Skaggs to step outside the vehicle and patted him down, finding a large amount of cash in his pocket. Skaggs explained it was for his rent in Tennessee but also said he did not know how much his rent was in Tennessee. Pennington testified that in similar situations, drug dealers often have large sums of cash on their person.

Since Skaggs refused the search, Pennington called the Bucyrus Police Department to dispatch the K-9 unit for a sniff test. After several minutes without the unit arriving, Pennington called dispatch back and was told the K-9 handler, Chris Hulsmeyer, was off for the evening. Pennington called him at home and then had dispatch formally call Hulsmeyer and K-9 Roscoe to the scene. Several minutes elapsed between the time of the stop and the time of the arrival of Hulsmeyer.

Pennington started writing a warning ticket to Skaggs for the violations while he waited for the K-9 unit to arrive.

According to Hulsmeyer, he directed Roscoe to the rear bumper on the driver’s side and Roscoe ran around the vehicle both clockwise and counterclockwise. Roscoe caught an odor, did a head snap, and sat down at the rear bumper. Hulsmeyer advised the alert was positive. A WD 40 can with a false bottom was located and it contained methamphetamines and drug paraphernalia. Skaggs was arrested and charged.

The state argued that there was sufficient cause to hold Skaggs based on the tips and his behavior at the scene. Hoovler noted that Skaggs had been a person of interest for some years in Crawford County. Hoovler also noted it was a simple mix-up with dispatch that caused the delay in the arrival of the K-9 unit.

The defense argued that the traffic stop was extended too long and that there was no probable cause to hold Skaggs. Siewert noted that no warning was ever given to Skaggs but that a frustrated Pennington stalled to process to allow the K-9 unit to arrive.

“There was no evidence to support an illegal act had occurred. The stop went beyond the admissible time,” Siewert said. “Everything checked out, he owned the car, he had a valid license and there were no outstanding warrants for Mr. Skaggs. They were acting on a hunch not verified.”

He asked the court to dismiss the evidence based on that factor.

“This was not a routine traffic stop. If it were, we would be done here,” Leuthold said. “Mr. Skaggs was being pulled over because of suspicion of drug activity and that is 100% legal. The two violations (stop sign and left of center) are not disputed. The drug dog hit and once the drug dog hit, probable cause was established.”

Leuthold agreed that the dog was late but that it was a communication issue.

“The real purpose here was to search the car. The dog has got to get there in time,” Leuthold said. “It took 23 ½ minutes for the dog to arrive. Had this been a routine traffic stop, the court would rule it was too long and the motion to suppress would be granted.

“The real issue is was there reasonable suspicion to extend the stop to wait for Roscoe to arrive. A stop can be prolonged if there is suspicion that would reasonably warrant an extension of time,” Leuthold continued. “The officers can make inferences. There were tips in 2016, 2017, and 2019. All of those tips were general and stale, not specific. Tips alone do not represent reasonable suspicion. However, the fourth tip in July was much more specific. The person describes facts like he lives in Tennessee and where he was staying. The motorcycle evidence was indicative of a drug deal and the officer can make inferences from that.

“Two persons of interest at the same address add to suspicion. The shaky hand and the arm not wet from removing snow as he said he had create suspicion, the use of MapQuest in an area where he much later admitted he grew up in along with the fact that he said he is not used to snow when he admittedly travels back and forth frequently to see his girlfriend increases officer suspicion,” Leuthold added. “I find that the state has met its burden of proof in this matter. This does pass the threshold for probable cause justifying the delay in waiting for the arrival of K-9 Roscoe. The defense motion is denied, and the matter will be set for trial.”

A jury trial is set for July 9.