Wanted Newark man tells police to be 'quicker' looking for him on Facebook post

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) – A convicted felon in Newark was in a humorous mood Tuesday when local police asked for help catching him.

The Newark Division of Police posted on Facebook that Tanner Rhinehart, 20, had a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear at his sentencing hearing for a probation violation. However, Rhinehart didn't shy away from responding to the Newark police post from his own account, which saw laugh reactions from over a hundred other users.

"Y'all almost had (me) the other day you gotta be quicker than that (sic)," Rhinehart wrote.

Rhinehart's probation violation stemmed from a charge of failing to comply with an officer on February 26, 2023. He originally had received the one-year probation sentence from a November 2021 case where he was convicted of receiving stolen property, according to the Licking County Municipal Court Clerk's Office.

Rhinehart was arrested, then bailed out over the failure to comply charge, and admitted to the probation violation, court records showed. After he didn't show up for his April 13 sentencing, the judge then issued a bench warrant for his arrest the next day with a $10,000 cash surety bond attached.

Rhinehart did appear open to negotiating with the police he was evading, however, in a later comment on their post.

"What willll (sic) I get if I turn my self in," Rhinehart wrote. "They give me a good enough deal I might turn my self in."

Multiple other Facebook users responded with options, including "free rent and meals" as well as "a stamped envelope once a month on the house." Not everyone viewed Rhinehart's shenanigans humorously, as one user said "he's young enough to turn his life around and fix it."

Rhinehart pleaded guilty in April 2022. He was just eight days away from the end of his one-year probation sentence before being arrested for the latest failure to comply charge in March. For the probation violation, he would have to serve 50 days remaining from his pending 90-day jail sentence when captured by Newark police, according to a Licking County court clerk.

Rhinehart is not a stranger to the Licking County court system. An array of charges have been brought against him over the last two years, including a guilty plea for felony theft in January 2022 in the Licking County Court of Common Pleas.

Rhinehart has also previously faced charges of weapons under disability, burglary, domestic violence, and aggravated menacing, all of which were dismissed.