Gun, drug charges follow bust
An Ohio felon is jailed in the Butler County Prison after county narcotics officers say they found him with a loaded pistol outside a Butler restaurant.
The Butler County Drug Task Force on Thursday arrested Zachari L. Roth, 34, of Columbus on felony gun charges. He is jailed on $50,000 bail.
An officer came upon Roth about 5 p.m. after first spotting Tara L. Hockenberry, 25, of Butler, who the task force wanted on an arrest warrant, according to court documents.
Roth and Hockenberry were both seated at a picnic table on South Chestnut Street. The officer said that while arresting Hockenberry, Roth appeared to make “furtive” movements with his hands.
In a purse that was on the table, documents said, were seven packages of Suboxone, a digital scale, seven .32-caliber bullets and an Ohio identification card for Roth.
He and Hockenberry both denied ownership of the purse and its contents.
Task force officers subsequently took Roth to the ground after they say he appeared to be growing anxious and at one point stood up from the table.
A pat-down search for weapons, documents said, turned up a .32-caliber Kel-Tec pistol in his left cargo shorts pocket. The gun was loaded with a magazine containing seven rounds.
He also was found with Suboxone and a crack pipe, authorities said,
The task force eventually learned that Roth did not have a carry license for the gun. His criminal record also showed a 2013 felony firearm conviction that bars him, under state law, from possessing any firearms.He and Hockenberry were placed in the county prison that night.District Judge Lewis Stoughton on Friday arraigned Roth on felony charges of felons not to possess firearms and carrying a firearm without a license, and misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.Hockenberry was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with the warrant.In that case, according to court documents, she was found March 24 during a task force investigation with a syringe and an empty stamp bag of heroin at a man's apartment on Third Street in Butler.She is in the county prison $15,000 bail.
