CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A Chillicothe man was arrested Sunday after police say surveillance footage captured a driver firing multiple rounds from a moving vehicle on East Water Street, with officers later using camera systems to locate the suspected vehicle and recovering a handgun from underneath the driver’s seat.
According to a Chillicothe Police Department report, officers were dispatched to the area of 591 E. Water Street on September 14 following reports of a shooting.
A witness told police he saw a white Kia sedan driving down the street while someone inside fired shots at another vehicle. The witness reported hearing two shots before running outside and then seeing the Kia apparently chasing a black sedan while a person pointed a firearm from the window.
Police subsequently obtained surveillance footage from the area. Officer Cody Moore reported that video appeared to show the driver of the white sedan firing six or seven shots from the driver’s window.
The report notes that children were riding bicycles through the area, while other vehicles and pedestrians were also nearby. Police wrote that the shooting created a serious risk of physical harm to people on the roadway.
Officers located and collected three spent shell casings, which police believed to be 9mm based upon information on the casings.
Investigators then used the city’s camera system and Flock Safety cameras to search for a white Kia matching the vehicle shown in the surveillance footage. Police located a white Kia Optima with black wheels that investigators believed matched the suspected vehicle.
Officer Joseph Gay later stopped the Kia on Watt Street. Police identified the driver as William Robert Joesph Scaggs, 26, with Talon Price, 30, riding as a passenger.
During a search of the vehicle, officers reported discovering a tan 9mm Glock 19 underneath the driver’s seat. The handgun contained a fully loaded 17-round magazine, although police reported there was no round in the chamber. Officers also reported recovering eight additional 9mm rounds and a scale containing white residue.
Scaggs denied involvement in the shooting, according to police. He reportedly told officers he had recently purchased the firearm from a man in Columbus and claimed he had not fired it. Scaggs also initially gave police an account of his whereabouts that officers said he had difficulty recalling.
Price told investigators he had only recently been picked up by Scaggs and denied knowing about the shooting. Police reported that Price’s account was corroborated by his wife. Price was released from the scene and was not arrested in connection with the shooting.
Police said evidence collected from the shooting scene and the firearm recovered from the Kia will be submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for ballistic analysis.
Scaggs was arrested and transported to the Ross County Jail on a charge of discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises — upon or over a public road or highway, in violation of Ohio Revised Code 2923.162(A)(3).
The Kia was towed to the city’s impound lot as evidence. The police report lists the investigation as pending.
The charge against Scaggs is an allegation. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
