Renchen
A Hillsboro man was sentenced to three years of community control on one count of aggravated possession of meth in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
Joshua Renchen, 47, was sentenced to three years of community control on one count of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony.
Renchen was ordered to successfully complete Substance Use Disorder (S.U.D.) treatment and recommended aftercare.
The Court also ordered that, if Renchen violated any of the community control sanctions, he would be given a sentence of between six and 12 months and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine.
According to court documents, on or around March 17, 2022, the Hillsboro Police Department got a call which told them that a white and blue Dodge truck was transporting methamphetamine and approaching Hillsboro from the Peebles area on S.R. 73. The caller said the name of the truck’s driver and then also said Renchen was one of the passengers. Dispatch confirmed that the driver and Renchen both had a suspended license.
An officer then looked at BMV pictures for Renchen and the driver. Two investigators then assisted with the locating of the vehicle. One of the investigators found the vehicle on S.R. 73 in the Belfast area as they were going toward Hillsboro. The investigator then followed the vehicle toward Hillsboro, after which an officer located it entering Hillsboro going on Belfast Pike. The officer then saw it drive over the white line on the right side of the roadway twice on Belfast Pike near Johnson Street.
The officer then saw that the person that was reported as the driver was, in fact, driving. The officer activated the overhead lights on their cruiser in order to try and stop the vehicle at Belfast Pike on Muntz Street. The vehicle then stopped in the middle of the road, as the officer directed them to pull over onto Muntz Street. The driver “seemed confused” and started to exit the vehicle.
The officer exited their vehicle and placed the driver in handcuffs. The officer also saw Renchen in the vehicle’s front passenger seat. There were no other occupants inside the vehicle. A sergeant then arrived on the scene to help with the situation. After they decided the vehicle would be towed from the scene, the officer saw that a cigarette pack was sitting on the middle console.
Looking inside the cigarette pack, the officer saw a metal pipe with residue. The driver said that the item was a crack pipe. The officer then advised driver of their Miranda rights, which they said they understood. The sergeant then asked Renchen to exit the vehicle, as Renchen complied.
The officer asked Renchen if he had anything on his person that they needed to know about. Renchen said that the officer could search him, then beginning to pull items out from his left pants pocket. The officer saw the top of a hypodermic needle cap fall onto the ground from Renchen’s pocket, also seeing a clear baggie which contained a white substance inside the needle cap.
Renchen “claimed” he didn’t know what the item inside his pocket was. The officer secured the metal pipe and the needle cap which contained the clear baggie with white substance as evidence.
A short time after that, a sergeant and officer started an inventory of the vehicle before it would be towed. The officer found a black tool case behind the driver’s seat. The tool case contained a red case with a black pouch inside. Inside of that pouch was multiple clear plastic bags which contained a white crystal substance. A paper bag which contained three pill bottles were also fond inside the black tool case. All three of those pill bottles contained a white substance. These items were secured as evidence.
The officer also saw personal paperwork inside the vehicle for the driver. The officer advised Renchen of his Miranda rights, which Renchen said he understood. Renchen said the drugs in his pocket belonged to someone else and also said he didn’t know that there was meth in the vehicle. Renchen also said the truck belonged to the driver.
The driver admitted that the tool boxes in the vehicle were his. However, the driver also said the meth didn’t belong to him, saying he was set up by someone. The vehicle was then towed from the scene and the driver was taken to jail. Renchen was then released from the scene.
The narcotics were submitted to BCI for analysis, as the needle cap with the clear baggie inside which contained a white substance held by Renchen was found to contain methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
