Drug bust within sight of sheriff’s office

Suspected heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana were found in a motel room during execution of a drug- related search warrant Thursday evening.

Chuck Boyer, unit coordinator of Seneca County Drug Task Force METRICH Enforcement Unit, said the search was conducted in room 111 of Seneca Motel, 919 E. US 224.

Along with the suspected drugs, law enforcement from METRICH, Seneca County Sheriff's Office and Tiffin Police Department's Special Response Team also fond hypodermic needles, drug paraphernalia, criminal tools and evidence of drug trafficking, according to a release from METRICH.

One resident of the room, Jason Groot, 33, was arrested on outstanding warrants from Sandusky County for failure to appear and a parole violation. Another resident, Christina Rodgers, 38, and Nicholas Vassar, 33, who was present in the room, were not arrested Thursday evening.

Boyer said the three are suspected of selling heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana. He said law enforcement had been investigating them for about a month after receiving complaints from residents of the motel that drug trafficking was occurring from the room. Boyer said a small amount of suspected heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana was found Thursday during the search.

"Our office began receiving a lot of complaints from residents of the motel reporting suspected drug activity. We were able to address the issues effectively and remind these people that it's not a very good idea to sell drugs across from the sheriff's office," Seneca County Sheriff Bill Eckelberry said in the release.

According to the release, additional charges of trafficking heroin, possession of heroin, possession of crack cocaine, trafficking crack cocaine, possession of criminal tools and permitting drug abuse are pending for Groot, Rodgers and Vassar upon lab results and the conclusion of the investigation.

Originally published in the Advertiser Tribune on March 6, 2015.