Roundup: May 9, 2008
The Chronicle-Telegram Staff
Lorain man pleads guilty to fondling girl
ELYRIA — A Lorain man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges he fondled a teenage member of an Amherst home-based church he attended.
Robert Champion, 53, made the plea on the condition that Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi would sentence him to probation at a sentencing hearing later this year, said Champion’s attorney, Ken Ortner.
Champion also entered guilty pleas to a charge he fondled a 12-year-old girl he knew while riding in the back seat of a car with her.
The 15-year-old girl he knew from church reported last April that Champion had groped her several times between December 2006 and February 2007.
Ortner said his client could receive up to eight years in prison, but he can withdraw his plea if he gets prison time under the plea deal.
“He knows he may have been too friendly with these girls, and he’s going to get some counseling to help him tell the difference, but he feels like he was just being friendly,” Ortner said.
LCCAA employee pleads guilty to theft
ELYRIA — A Lorain County Community Action Agency employee accused of using an agency program to pay her own utility bills pleaded guilty Thursday to theft in office, theft and tampering with records.
Elizabeth Young, 40, had worked in the agency’s Emergency Home Assistance Program and used her position to steal more than $500 from the program to pay her bills.
The thefts took place between January 2001 and December 2005 and were discovered after an anonymous letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services accused several agency workers of corruption.
Young could get more than five years in prison when she is sentenced later this year.
Nurse aide indicted for bathing patient
ELYRIA — A nurse’s aide at Wesleyan Village has been indicted for allegedly giving an elderly patient a bath against doctor’s orders.
Raymonda Kind, 52, of Elyria, is charged with a single misdemeanor count of patient abuse.
Assistant County Prosecutor Dave Muhek said the 69-year-old patient was supposed to be given a bath while in bed, but King instead took her to the bath in August 2007.
The woman, who was recovering from a fracture, wasn’t injured, but moving her did cause her pain, Muhek said.
Because the charge is a misdemeanor, Muhek said, the case will be transferred to Elyria Municipal Court.
Woman reports scam posing as IRS
ELYRIA — A 33-year-old Denison Avenue woman told police she fell victim to e-mail scammers posing as the Internal Revenue Service.
The woman said Wednesday that she filled out an online form requesting personal information relating to her taxes, and a little while later received an e-mail about her 2008 economic stimulus refund, according to an Elyria police report.
The message said that if she gave more information, her money would be deposited in her bank account faster, the report said, so the woman handed over her husband’s Social Security number and her bank debit card number and security code, date of birth, address and full proper name.
The woman told police that after talking with friends she grew suspicious of the e-mail, which came from service@IRS.Inc.gov. The IRS, located online at www. irs.gov, knows about the scam and warns that agents will never send e-mails asking for that kind of personal information.
Elyria police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said this is the first time he’s seen this particular fraud hit here, and residents should be especially careful about any e-mail asking for confidential information.
Thieves take huge spools of copper
ELYRIA — Thieves made off with $4,500 worth of copper wire over the weekend during a raid on Lorain County Community College, an Elyria police report said.
The culprits took four enormous spools of wire, each weighing about 350 pounds, from the construction site for the college’s new library, police said.
According to the report, Lake Erie Electric workers had locked the copper inside the building, which is surrounded by a locked chain-link fence. But a few doors there don’t have locks installed and were only “pinned” shut, a construction foreman told police.
The same worker told police it would take at least two people to load the heavy spools on a truck.
Driver charged for fatal crash
SHEFFIELD — The man who struck and killed a motorcyclist Tuesday on state Route 611 has been charged in connection with the cyclist’s death.
David Mumford, 56, of Lorain, was charged Thursday with crossing over center lines and vehicular manslaughter for the death of 63-year-old James Fisher of Lorain.
Fisher was killed almost instantly when Mumford’s 2004 Chevrolet Cavalier crossed into oncoming traffic on state Route 611 and struck the Yamaha motorcycle Fisher was riding, Sheffield police said.
Alcohol and drugs were not involved in the crash, Sheffield police Capt. Larry Bliss said, and it’s unknown what caused Mumford to cross center lines.
Woman allegedly strangled by husband
HUNTINGTON TWP. — A Huntington Township woman was treated and released Thursday from MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland after she was allegedly shot at and strangled by her husband.
The 30-year-old woman told sheriff’s deputies that an argument with her 33-year-old husband led to him firing a gun into the ceiling of their home before he proceeded to kick and strangle her.
The woman’s 12-year-old daughter witnessed the fight and said she heard her father say “if her mother was dead, it would solve all his problems,” the report said.
When the man’s own mother arrived to the house, she told deputies she saw her son kicking his wife and stepping on her neck.
Deputies found the husband sitting on the tailgate of his truck in the driveway. He told them he and his wife had gotten into an argument about their relationship and he just snapped, the report said.
The woman had bruising and reddening around her neck and complained of having trouble breathing.
She was taken to Allen Community Hospital in Oberlin and was later flown to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.
Her husband was charged with felonious assault, aggravated menacing and domestic violence.
Cops look for man who tried to pick up teen
ELYRIA — Police are looking for a man who solicited sex from a 15-year-old girl Tuesday.
The girl told police a man in his 60s pulled up alongside her at 10:45 a.m. as she walked along 10th Street and asked her “how much does she cost for sex.”
The girl ignored the driver, described as a black man driving an older model white car, and walked to where neighbors were standing a few blocks away, the police report said.
Lorain man arrested at home after chase
ELYRIA — A 20-year-old Lorain man, who fled the scene of an accident Tuesday at estimated speeds of 100 mph, told police he did it out of fear of not having a license.
Vincent Sanchez was charged with failure to comply with a police order, obstructing official business, fictitious license plates and leaving the scene of an accident when police found his vehicle parked in the driveway of his Dallas Avenue residence in Lorain.
An Elyria police officer first approached Sanchez at 7:44 p.m. on East Broad Street after witnessing him bump the rear of another vehicle stopped at a red light.
Sanchez told the officer he was OK, but he fled the scene when the officer went to check on the condition of the other driver.
Police pursued Sanchez as he drove at high speed down the center of the roadway on East Broad Street and ran several red lights. Police eventually lost sight of the vehicle near Prospect Avenue.
Another motorist reported seeing Sanchez’s vehicle driving 100 mph northbound on Abbe Road, and Lorain police later found the vehicle parked in Sanchez’s driveway.
Sanchez was taken into custody.
Avon police get ready to move
AVON — Moving day for the Avon police is May 22, but they’ll be going only about three blocks.
They’ll be packing everything and heading from the current station, 36774 Detroit Road, to the new one at 36145 Detroit Road, Avon police Lt. Keith Haag said. The new headquarters is close to the intersection of state Routes 254 and 83.
During the move, there won’t be any break in 24-hour emergency dispatch and road coverage, he said.
Requests for records and vehicle releases will be handled at the old station from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. until May 23. For all other police help, the old station will close 7 p.m. May 22, when the new station officially opens for business.
Three indicted on robbery charges
ELYRIA — Three people accused of robbing Brownie’s Market in Sheffield Lake in March have been indicted.
Brian Burgess, 25, of North Ridgeville, is accused of two robberies, one on March 1 and other on March 10, and is charged with aggravated robbery and robbery.
David Mawson, 23, of Sheffield Lake, is charged with aggravated robbery in the first robbery, and Jessica McCoy, 23, also of Sheffield Lake, is charged with robbery in connection with the second robbery.
Police said that in the first robbery a small handgun was brandished, while in the second robbery no gun was seen. All told, the robbers got about $200.
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Filed by The Chronicle-Telegram Staff May 9th, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 2% |
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