Chillicothe — A Circleville man with a previous conviction was indicted on having a stolen motorcycle, and a woman on possession of drugs, after a midnight August traffic stop at the north end of Bridge Street.
The Ross County Grand Jury met on Friday, October 9th, 2026. They returned all 17 of their cases, with five open for release to the public. From one of the cases,* according to the Ross County Prosecutor’s Office:
On August 19th, at 12:16am, a Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop of a motorcycle on State Route 159 (North Bridge Street) at Hopetown Road, because the license plate was not listed in the system.
The driver was 37-year-old Ernest C. Haddox, with 41-year-old Samantha S. Salyers as passenger, both of the same address on Town Street in Circleville.
Haddox told the trooper that the motorcycle was his father-in-law’s, who had passed away. But he appeared nervous and stared straight ahead while speaking. He also had a suspended license.
The ID sticker was missing from the license plate, and the motorcycle turned out to be listed as stolen by the Clinton County Sheriff, though Haddox said he did not steal it.
He was patted down and a needle was found in the chest pocket of his shirt. Salyers was found to have a cut straw with residue – and when asked, she admitted she had a bag of fentanyl and methamphetamine in her vagina.
She said she had smoked fentanyl earlier, and Haddox shoots it. The recovered drugs were 0.208 grams fentanyl and 0.188 grams of meth.
The trooper had come up behind the motorcycle and manually read the license pate, and did not use a reader. The plate was also not even intended for a motorcycle.
For indictments on fourth- and fifth-degree felony receiving stolen property, Haddox could get up to2 1/2 years and $3,000 in fines. This is not the first theft charge for Haddox:
- Circleville Thief Caught After Investigation (06/12/2019)
- Stolen Camper Leads to an Arrest and Much More (01/21/2021)
- Circleville Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of a Camper Stolen in Pickaway County (09/02/2021)
- Circleville Man Receives Years in Prison for Local Stolen Camper (12/15/2021)
For indictments on of fifth-degree felony aggravated possession of drugs and possession of fentanyl, Salyers could get up to two years and $5,000 in fines.
*The investigators in the Prosecutor’s Office provide law enforcement reports on alleged offenses to the Grand Jury, which then deliberates on each case in secret. After each Grand Jury has adjourned, the investigators then offer a discussion of the law enforcement reports to news media in the cases that are open to release to the public.
