Bloomingburg man sentenced in Highland County weapons under disability case

A Bloomingburg man was sentenced to community control recently after pleading guilty to having weapons under disability in Highland County Common Pleas Court.

Rodney McCarty, 49, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in January and charged with the third-degree felony charge as well as a forfeiture specification. He pleaded guilty to both charges in February, according to court records.

According to a bill of particulars, in November, a Greenfield police officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle in which McCarty was a passenger. After the driver stopped the vehicle, McCarty allegedly escaped on foot. When McCarty was apprehended, he allegedly advised that he fled because “he had felony warrants,” which officers verified to be true.

Officers conducted a search of the vehicle after finding a holster on McCarty’s hip and allegedly located a loaded 9-mm pistol, which fit the holster. McCarty was under felony indictment for a drug possession charge in Fayette County at the time of his arrest in Greenfield.

During a hearing April 2, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced McCarty to three years of community control and ordered him to successfully complete substance use disorder treatment and recommended aftercare. The weapon was ordered forfeited to the Greenfield Police Department.

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