ASHLAND, OHIO – On November 3, 2025, State Trooper Kevin Peshak initiated a traffic stop as part of an ongoing enforcement operation within city limits. Positioned outside a local daycare, Peshak observed a driver depart with his daughter; as the man pulled out, he reached for his phone after it slid off the passenger seat, providing the grounds for the stop.  The driver immediately pulled into a nearby shopping plaza at 3:25 PM and remained fully compliant, rolling down his window promptly, providing his license, registration and insurance. Despite the driver’s clarification that he was not actively texting or calling, Trooper Peshak issued a citation for a first-offense distracted driving violation – which was within his right to do.  However, what wasn’t within his right was the unconstitutional overreach and participating in the extreme targeting of the individual…

As the clock ticked toward his children’s bus arrival of 4:05 PM, what began as a routine traffic stop for a simple citation devolved into an unlawful “fishing expedition.” Despite witnessing the man depart the daycare with his daughter, Trooper Peshak—as part of a pattern of extreme targeting—detained the victim for 45 minutes to investigate nonexistent protection order violations against his daughter. With no reasonable, articulable suspicion of a separate crime, this prolonged detainment violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The unnecessary delay ultimately forced the man to frantically arrange emergency childcare when he was prevented from meeting his children at their stop.

“The story of my life, constantly pulled over,” – VICTIM

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“The story of my life, constantly pulled over,” the man says as the video begins, timestamping his recording. The officer had already initiated the stop, collecting license and insurance documentation and stating the violation. Although the interaction started at 3:25 PM, with the video starting at 3:30 PM, the driver wasn’t cleared to leave until 4:10 PM, making for a unbelievable 45-minute ordeal.  The traffic stop was unlawful and a prolonged detention that far exceeded the time “reasonably required” to address the initial violation (which was something as simple as writing a ticket and checking license and registration) – therefore clearly violating his 4th Amendment Rights.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

Stops exceeding 20-30 minutes without additional justification for a K-9 unit are often considered unreasonable. In Ohio, an unreasonable traffic stop extension regarding a protection order occurs when law enforcement continues to detain a driver after the original purpose of the stop (e.g., speeding, broken taillight, distracted driver) is completed, without having reasonable, articulable suspicion that a violation of a protection order is actually occurring.   

Under Ohio and Federal Law, a stop becomes an “unreasonable seizure” if, after the officer has finished the tasks related to the traffic violation, they continue to detain the individual without new, independent suspicion. 

• No “Fishing Expeditions”: If an officer stops a car for a minor violation, completes that investigation, and has no evidence that a protection order is being violated, any further detention to run background checks for protection orders is unreasonable.
• Post-Traffic Stop Detention: If a driver is told they are getting a warning or a first time citation, but is then held for another 10–30 minutes without cause to check for protection orders, this is an illegal extension.

1. Scope of Investigation: The investigation must be limited to the original reason for the stop unless new suspicion arises.
2. Objective Standard: The officer must be able to point to specific facts that created the suspicion of a violation, not just a hunch or a “gut feeling”.
3. Duration: A routine traffic stop generally should not last much longer than necessary to handle the citation, with excessive wait times for records checks often deemed unreasonable. 

NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT

THE BOTTOM LINE

SCUMBAGGED Tip:  The city of Ashland is a very small city where everyone knows everyone and law enforcement communicate with one another regarding situations and individuals to the highest degree of perhaps any other city in the United States.  These might appear to be routine stops, but they aren’t – they are a form of harassment, intimidation and extreme targeting that have been fully documented and are being actively investigated.

AËTOS SAYS:  This is clearly just more unconstitutional behavior from Ashland and it’s co-conspirators.  In Ashland they believe they are ABOVE the law as opposed to upholding the law and they think they can get away with it – because they always have had no accountability, until now…