Man claims he was forced to consider robbery to pay debt

CHILLICOTHE – A man was taken into custody Thursday after Chillicothe police received a call from one of his family members claiming the man was being forced to rob a convenience store to pay a debt.

Police driving an unmarked cruiser found Reilly McGinnis, 25, in the first block of East Main Street. McGinnis allegedly called his family to tell them he was told to rob the convenience store on Western Avenue and West Water Street or he would be killed.

According to McGinnis' family member who called police, McGinnis said on the phone that he was standing in the parking lot outside the store with a gun as the subjects forcing him to rob it watched from a nearby van about 9:55 a.m. Thursday.

The police incident report indicates McGinnis originally told police everything was fine before telling a detective a subject he knows only by the name Jay was attempting to force him to rob the convenience store to pay a drug debt. When police asked McGinnis where Jay was, he said the subject was no longer in the area.

As police searched McGinnis, they found about a dozen credit and ATM cards with the names of McGinnis' family members on them, two personal checks from family members payable to him, family passports, Social Security cards, an Ohio driver's license not belonging to McGinnis, bank mail statements and three used syringes and metal spoons with burn marks.

McGinnis' family told police he did not have permission to have the cards and identification documents on his person, and they had not written the checks.

McGinnis' family also advised he has been battling a drug habit for three years, and had asked for money to pay off drug debts before.

McGinnis was taken into custody and charged with receiving stolen property for possession of the stolen charge cards.

Once he was taken to jail, McGinnis told police some "shady" people had been in his father's vehicle, and he alleged Jay took a handful of mail and property from the vehicle.

McGinnis said he entered Jay's home and took the property back but could not provide police with Jay's address.

According to the report, McGinnis also told police he forged both checks but that he had never tried to use any of the charge or ATM cards, even though they were in his jacket pocket when police found them.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.