A Middletown man was sentenced this week in Highland County Common Pleas Court to a definite prison term of at least 28 months.
Michael Gammoh, 40, was sentenced on one count of failure to comply with the order of a police officer, a third-degree felony; receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; and breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony.
According to court documents, a factor in Gammoh’s prison sentence was that he had served a prior prison term. The entry also said the consecutive sentences were necessary “to protect the public and punish the offender.”
Gammoh was given jail time credit for 134 days served.
According to court records, on May 8, 2021, an officer responded to the Sunoco gas station on East Main Street in Hillsboro in reference to an alarm call. When the officer arrived at Sunoco the front entrance to the business was severely damaged. The officer then saw tire tracks inside of the business and the glass double doors lying on the floor. After the officer reviewed the businesses’ video footage, it was found that a flatbed truck was used to ram through the front doors.
Once the doors were down, someone exited the truck and entered the business. Then the subject loaded a lottery machine containing $3,000 in U.S. currency into the bed of the truck. Because the truck had a flat bed, the lottery machine fell out, according to court records
On May 8, 2021, the officer saw a black Mitsubishi Eclipse with an Ohio dealer tag on East Main Street. in Hillsboro. The officer then saw the vehicle turn right into North High Street without activating a turn signal and the vehicle then tried to make a left turn onto an exit-only Governor Foraker Place. After the driver failed to make the left turn the vehicle continued north on North High Street. The officer started a traffic stop on the car in the 100 block of North High Street, according to court records
The Eclipse came to a stop and as the officer approached the vehicle the driver fled the scene. The officer then ran back to his patrol vehicle and continued the pursuit. The vehicle continued on East Main Street, reaching speeds up to 110 mph and continued on through Marshall before getting away, court records said.
On May 10, two officers received information that a stolen white Dodge Ram was found in the woods behind the Nazarene Church on Chillicothe Avenue. The vehicle was later identified as the truck that rammed the entrance to the Sunoco. Video footage was obtained from the Greystone Motel, next to the Nazarene Church, and after the footage was reviewed, Michael Gammoh was seen walking from the woods after leaving the stolen truck there. An officer identified Gammoh as the subject that fled from him on May 8, according to court records.
The records said that on May 11, the Peebles Police Department was involved in a vehicle pursuit with a black Mitsubishi Eclipse. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody and was later identified as Gammoh.
Bret Swisher, 46, Leesburg, was sentenced to three years of community control for two counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamines, both third-degree felonies. The entry said Swisher must comply with any treatment recommended and pay a fine of $10,000.
Melanie Ballein, 39, Hillsboro, was sentenced to three years of community control for one count of grand theft of a firearm, a third-degree felony.
Ballein was also accepted into the New Way to Recovery Drug Court Docket. If she violates any of the community control sanctions or drug court docket conditions, she must serve a sentence of 36 months in prison and pay a fine of $10,000.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
