Andrea Gatti and Rusty Lucey were promoted to Detective Sergeants on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. This step was taken to bring Detectives Unit up to date and all staff within the unit will be Detective Sergeants.

During a routine traffic stop on US 40 near Blaine, a large amount of drugs and money was taken off the streets of Belmont County. A Belmont County Patrol Deputy made the stop and upon investigation found the suspect to be on Federal Parole and asked for permission to search the vehicle. Martins Ferry Police Department was contacted and asked to assist with their K-9 unit. When the K-9 unit arrived, the suspect was asked to step out of his vehicle. While the K-9 was walking toward the vehicle, the suspect fled and was apprehended and restrained. The suspect’s vehicle was towed and is awaiting a search warrant. 81 grams of illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine and over $7,000.00 was put into evidence.

From the WTOV 9 website:

It’s called “Operation Short Shield.” News9’s Kate Davison climbed inside of a cruiser for a special report on how the collaboration between law enforcement agencies brings results.

Shield detail involves numerous agencies coming together for one common cause — to enforce the law –in two separate facets: Criminal patrol and OVI patrol. Last Friday night, Sgt. Jason Greenwood with the Ohio State Highway Patrol let NEWS9 tag along with him. The ride along was nothing less than eventful. The event included more than 24 units and 36 continuous hours of patrol. “We aggressively are looking for criminals, people that are operating vehicles while they’re impaired,” said Lt. James Faunda of the OSHP.

And a focused approach between members of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Martins Ferry Police and the Belmont County Drug Task Force. Its success rests on a combined effort of the agencies. “We all know that we have a problem, from alcohol to drugs and criminal activities,” Belmont County Sherriff Dave Lucas said.

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Joe Kutcher was recognized for 25 years of service with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office. Joe retired on September 30, 2013.

Joe started working at the Sheriff’s Office April 18, 1988 under Sheriff Tom McCort. He then served under Sheriff Fred Thompson and Sheriff David M. Lucas.

He worked in the Administrative Maintenance/Janitorial position his entire career with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office. Joe was liked and respected by all the staff at our office and will be truly missed. It was common to come into work and see something out of place and several staff would then state, “Joe must be off today!” The Sheriff and staff at the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office wish Joe many happy years of retirement and with gratitude, appreciation and respect, we congratulate him on his 25 years of service with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office.

In photo: Jason Schwarck, Sheriff David M. Lucas, Jordan Blumling

The Belmont County Office recognized two deputies for their outstanding job performance in the month of March. Recognized were Deputy Jason Schwarck and Deputy Jordan Blumling. In honor of their hard work and dedication, the Sheriff’s Office presented them with gift cards.

The Sheriff’s Office will award two deputies monthly in appreciation for their devoted service to the citizens of Belmont County and the Sheriff’s Office.

As part of County Government Month, Belmont County Sheriff David Lucas visited the commissioners Tuesday to deliver a presentation regarding his office and its duties.

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=634YFiVAx_A]Authorities took more than 100 animals from a woman’s home in Bellaire Tuesday morning, following an ongoing investigation of an apparent hoarding situation.

The Belmont County Sheriff’s Office would like to recognize two Deputies for their outstanding job performance in the month of February, Sergeant Diana Hauck and Deputy Ervin Fulst.

In honor of their hard work and dedication, the Sheriff’s Office would like to present them with gift cards. We will continue to award two Deputies monthly in appreciation for their devoted service to the citizens of Belmont County and the Sheriff’s Office.

The Belmont County Sheriff’s Office website has now been moved to a temporary home of belmontsheriff.com due to unresolvable technical issues with our previous hosting provider. We apologize for the down time we have experienced over the past couple days, and are in the process of replicating the previous site here. Thanks to everyone for their continued patience.

All email services remain active and unchanged and under the belmontsheriff.com domain.

The combined efforts of the Martins Ferry Police Department and the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest of five individuals allegedly involved in one of the larger theft rings locally in recent memory.
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Members of the Sexual Predator Internet Initiative (SPII) Task Force, based in Belmont County, have received state recognition by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. At an awards luncheon in Cleveland on Tuesday, five out of 14 awards were given to SPII.
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Last year in October Zdanski hosted an open house for the Sexual Predator Internet Initiative (SPII) Task Force and computer forensics lab at the Bethesda Police Department. This lab, and a twin lab in Martins Ferry were still acquiring software and hardware, but had begun pursuing cases in Belmont, Monroe, Harrison and Noble Counties. Other counties and agencies have since joined the SPII unit, and it has received national recognition.
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A program based in Belmont County to catch online predators has been helping investigators bring offenders to court since its debut in 2007. Belmont has joined with Monroe and Noble counties in what officials call a strong team. Officials said that Belmont County is helping put southeastern Ohio on the map for stopping sexual misconduct over the Internet.
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