On Wednesday, October 26, Ironton officers received a call at 8:05 a.m. from the city sanitation department that an unknown male had attempted to discard several suspicious bags in their garbage truck.

Once officers arrived on the scene, they found what appeared to be bloody clothing in the bags. Detectives were brought in and the investigation began immediately to determine who and where the bags came from.

The investigation quickly confirmed that the items originated from the residence of 1217 South 9^th Street.

When officers appeared on the scene to perform a wellness check, a male exited the residence and fled in a vehicle.

Officers were able to secure a search warrant, and, upon searching the residence, found what appeared to be a deceased body wrapped in a rug underneath the deck of the back of the residence. Investigators made contact with Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) to assist in processing the crime scene.

The investigation determined the victim to be Harold Pleasant, 73, of Ironton. The suspect was determined to be Kace Pleasant, of Ironton.

The crime then moved to Scioto County, where the Scioto County Sheriff’s office became involved.

“We were notified of a bolo at approx. 0915 of a possible suspect that may have committed a homicide,” Sheriff David Thoroughman said in an email to Portsmouth Daily Times’ Hope Comer. “At approx. 0945, we received a call of an abandoned vehicle on US23 in Lucasville. The description given matched the vehicle description given in the bolo.”

A bolo is a broadcast issued by law enforcement agencies to others, typically containing information about a wanted suspect, person of interest, or a related vehicle.

According to Thoroughman, deputies and troopers were in the area, due to the earlier bolo.

Dispatch received calls giving locations of the driver of the abandoned vehicle, claiming he was attempting to get into other vehicles.

“The suspect approached a business and attempted to pull a victim back into her vehicle and take her vehicle. Employees of the business went to the aid of the victim and got into an altercation with the suspect,” Thoroughman continued in his email. “The suspect fled the business towards the intersection of US 23 and 348 where he hit the window of a female’s vehicle that was at the intersection. The suspect then ran heading northeast onto the railroad tracks between US23 and Fairgrounds Road, where he was located by a trooper.

The vehicle that was abandoned by the suspect was impounded and transported to the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office and stored until Ironton PD took control of it.

The suspect was transported to SOMC and Ironton PD and BCI investigators responded to take custody of the suspect.

In addition to what Ironton and Ohio BCI turns over, Thoroughman said that he will be presenting charges to the Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office, where they will be presented to a grand jury.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved