Last Thursday, deputies went to 523 N. Scott St. to execute a search warrant to obtain all electronics due to allegations made. They were met by Elisha Ellis, wife of Jonathan Ellis, the target of the investigation. She told deputies that her husband was at work. She and her juvenile son were removed from the residence.
Deputies entered the residence and immediately smelled the odor of animal feces. Going through the house, investigators found it to be strewn with trash, old food, mounds of dirty clothes and animal feces.
They contacted the Health Department and Children’s Services. The latter determined that the condition of the residence was too deplorable to allow the children to stay there. A juvenile male on the scene was taken by a family member, and the school was contacted to find placement for a juvenile female who lived there.
The original plan for the search warrant was to contact Jonathan Ellis at his place of employment, but investigators found that he had called in sick that day.
Mrs. Ellis was asked to contact Jonathan by phone. He said that he was at work. A deputy advised him that they were at his home executing a search warrant, and that he had to return home immediately. He said that he was just turning onto New Carlisle Pike and would be home soon. Two deputies went to New Carlisle Pike to follow him home. One deputy reported that Ellis was “messing with his phone” the entire time he followed him.
Once they arrived in town, Ellis pulled into the dollar store parking lot, and he was advised to continue home.
Both were advised that they were being arrested on two counts each of endangering children due to the conditions of the home.
Before taking Jonathan to jail, a deputy conducted a pat-down. During the search, a deputy removed Jonathan’s baseball cap and found a camera memory card in the brim. Jonathan said, “I forgot that was in there.” He was advised that he would also be charged with tampering with evidence.
Three laptop computers, one flash drive, two memory cards, four cell phones and one tablet were taken from the residence as evidence and both Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were taken to the Clark County Jail.
