A Medina woman has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, alleging she was disciplined by Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center officials for whistleblowing.

Paula Leligdon, 58, said in a 39-page December lawsuit that her troubles with the medical center — where she has worked since 2004 — began after a veteran died of injuries sustained in an April 2010 fight with another veteran at the Brecksville VA Outpatient Mental Health Clinic.

Leligdon said she filed a report with the VA expressing her opinion that clinic personnel could have done more to prevent the veteran’s death. She said she filed the report against the advice of her supervisor, Dale Goldstein.

After she filed the report, she said Goldstein told her several times, “You should have listened, if only you would have listened to me.”

Over the next few years, Leligdon said she was denied three promotions and experienced discrimination, bullying and name-calling at work.

Leligdon alleged in her suit she also witnessed a “cover up” of the incident, including once overhearing a conference call in which a woman said evidence was destroyed. The next day, Leligdon said the VA enacted a policy blocking employees from talking about “personal activities occurring within the medical center” on social media.

Attorneys representing Leligdon and Veterans Affairs did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Leligdon seeks judgment from U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent that the VA violated the Civil Rights Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act; injunctive relief to award her a promotion; action to prevent further violations; compensatory damages with interest; and attorneys’ fees.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Willie McCoy

Kevin Tate Jr.

A 22-year-old Parma man pleaded guilty Monday to driving a getaway car in 2013 after a woman was robbed at gunpoint in a Montville Township grocery store parking lot.

Kevin Tate Jr. accepted a plea bargain with Medina County prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for reduced charges. Tate is scheduled to be sentenced April 13 on charges of complicity to commit robbery, a second-degree felony, and a gun specification that adds mandatory prison time.

Tate, who was accused of driving the getaway car after the Aug. 24 robbery, initially was charged with complicity to commit aggravated robbery and a more severe gun specification.

His alleged accomplice, 21-year-old Willie McCoy, was charged with aggravated robbery and a gun specification. In addition, McCoy, was charged in October with assaulting a corrections officer while incarcerated, a fourth-degree felony.

McCoy awaits a March 30 jury trial in both cases.

McCoy and Tate were arrested after they were identified in video surveillance footage that was released to the public and shared by The Gazette and other news media.

Both men also are charged in Cuyahoga County with another aggravated robbery count, and McCoy faces attempted murder charges in a third incident.

In the attempted murder case, McCoy is charged with aggravated robbery, attempted murder, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, discharging a weapon near a prohibited premises and petty theft.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Doug McClure, better known by his call sign KD8SST, chats with a fellow member of the Medina 2 Meter Amateur Radio Group on Monday afternoon in his Medina home. McClure and other members of the group assisted first responders Jan. 13 when the Medina County 911 system went down. (LOREN GENSON / GAZETTE)

If you need help, you call 911. When the 911 operators need help, they call on members of a local amateur radio group — the Medina Emergency Communications Amateur Radio Service.

“When all else fails, we can always get through,” said Medina resident Doug McClure, a member of the group who came to the aid of county officials Jan. 13 when 911 services went down countywide.

McClure got his amateur radio license about three years ago and he is a member of the Medina 2 Meter Amateur Radio group. Many members of the group participate on the county’s emergency communications team.

“As long as we have a power supply, we can get out and reach other radios,” said McClure, who goes by the call sign KD8SST. The call sign is the license ID issued to McClure by the FCC. His sign lets other amateur or “ham” radio users know what region of the country he’s calling from. All amateur radio operators in Michigan, West Virginia and Ohio have an “8” in their call sign.

On Jan. 13, the county’s 911 services went down, along with landline phones. Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage, Stark and Summit counties also experienced outages related to a burst steam pipe at an AT&T switching office.

The Medina County Emergency Management Agency called in its amateur radio experts to get in touch with other counties and relay information to dispatchers from area hospitals.

“I’ve only been a ham for a little less than three years and this was my first activation,” McClure said. “I was very excited to be able to put into practice all the training that we do.”

The group was able to relay information about the outages to officials in other counties, and police dispatchers were able to relay information about hospitals to police and fire personnel in the community.

McClure and his fellow radio operators worked from about 7 p.m. to midnight — until all systems were restored in the county.

Most of the time, amateur radio operators chat with one another and practice learning how to search for and find other operators. But McClure said participating in public service is part of the responsibility of having an FCC license.

“When you get your license, you’re not required to participate in public service, but it’s encouraged, and for good reason,” he said.

The county’s amateur radio group has an entire trailer full of equipment that can reach any other radio operator in the world.

“Storms can knock out phone lines, power lines, but as long as we have a generator and an antenna, we can always reach someone,” he said.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

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UPDATE: ODOT has re-opened one lane of I-71 North near Pearl Road in southern Cuyahoga County. An estimate for when the entire interstate will re-open has not yet been announced.

From earlier today:

Interstate 71 is closed near Pearl Road as police respond to a major accident, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

A timeline for when the road will open has not yet been released.

Middleburg Heights Police are handling the accident and I-71 traffic is being re-routed.

The State Route 82 ramp and Interstate 80 ramps are both closed.

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An Eaton Township firefighter looks over the wreckage of a car involved in a collision with a train on state Route 83 near Capel Road on Thursday in Lorain County. (BRUCE BISHOP / GAZETTE)

A man and a woman were killed after their car collided with two CSX trains at a railroad crossing at state Route 83 and Capel Road about 5:10 p.m. Thursday in Lorain County.

Witness Dan Draeger said he was about 100 yards behind the northbound Chevrolet Malibu when it was struck. Draeger said the driver slowed down, but went through the crossing despite the crossing gates being down, lights flashing and east- and westbound trains approaching.

“My first thought was, ‘Why is he trying to go around because I saw the train coming,” Draeger, of Avon Lake, said. “The car went flying and spun around a few times.”

Draeger said the driver swerved left just before the westbound train struck the four-door Malibu. It then was hit by the eastbound train, said Lt. Travis Hughes, commander of the Elyria post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Gazette Sports Editor Betty Szudlo said she was two vehicles behind the Malibu, a van and a pickup were in between. She said she couldn’t see the collision, but saw debris flying in the air afterward.

“My first reaction was, ‘What did they just hit?’ Then it dawned on me,” she said. “Oh my God. It’s a car.”

Draeger said he and other witnesses tried to aid the driver, who was thrown about 10 yards from the car. He said the man was lying on his back and struggling to breathe. Draeger said the passenger was lying between the trains.

“I can’t fathom the physics of how she ended up on the other side of the train,” he said.

Eaton Township fire Lt. Kevin Blair said both victims died at the scene.

The victims’ names will be released after their relatives have been notified, Hughes said. He said the crash remains under investigation.

Terry Hupp, who lives on Route 83 near the crossing, said there have been several accidents there since he moved into his home in 2005. Hupp said vehicles frequently go around them when the gates are down and lights are flashing.

“They don’t want to wait,” Hupp said as he stared at the wrecked Malibu. “It’s just not worth it.”

Contact reporter Evan Goodenow at (440) 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.

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The state tells a Lodi couple they can’t keep their 40-year-old bear, Archie. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

Archie the bear won’t have to adjust to a new home — for now at least.

His owners, Debbie and Jeff Gillium, of Lodi, have filed a temporary restraining order against the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Medina County Common Pleas Court.

“We have an understanding with the state of Ohio that everything is going to sit tight,” attorney John Oberholtzer, who is representing the Gilliums, said. “One of the great problems here is exactly what does the state intends to do (with the bear).”

Oberholtzer said a hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday before Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier.

The state had threatened to remove the bear by Monday.

“Archie has been around for a long time. We think he is the oldest brown bear in captivity ever,” Oberholtzer said. “He certainly is one of the oldest bears of record in the United States.”

In the restraining order, Oberholtzer said the Gilliums never were given a form that would have exempted the 40-year-old Archie from the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 2012.

“After discovering that they were no longer in compliance with the law, the plaintiffs were not allowed to obtain the proper permits,” Oberholtzer wrote in the court document.

But according to Erica Hawkins, communications director for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Gilliums were aware of the change.

“We sent letters telling them about the requirements in the fall of 2012 during registration,” she said. “The last one we sent was in October 2013.”

Before 2012, there were no state laws covering the possession of wild animals as pets. When an exotic animal owner in Zanesville committed suicide and released his captive wild animals, the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 2012 was drafted.

Before the law, there were no limits on the number of wild animals people could keep on their property, and there were “not a lot of strings attached,” Hawkins said.

“It was just a hodgepodge of rules and regulations,” she said.

Hawkins said the Gilliums had proper permits from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, but never went through the steps to register Archie under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.

Owners of dangerous wild animals — which include tigers, lions and bears among other species — were given until Jan. 1, 2014, to register their pets.

In a letter from state Assistant Veterinarian Melissa Simmerman dated Jan. 9, the Gilliums were told they would either have to voluntarily move Archie out of state or the state was going to seize the bear.

Hawkins said there is no way the Gilliums will be able to register the bear under current law.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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Medina County Auditor Mike Kovack, second from right, enters a no contest plea to misusing public funds in Medina Municipal Court. Instead of being found guilty, Kovack was admitted to a diversion program and his charges will be dismissed if he completes it. Also pictured, from left, are Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter, who served as special prosecutor; and Kovack’s attorneys Steve Bailey and Ken Staiduhar. (NICK GLUNT / GAZETTE)

Medina County Auditor Mike Kovack was admitted to a diversion program Friday after pleading no contest to misusing public funds in Medina Municipal Court.

Kovack, 53, of Medina, is charged with two counts, which are first-degree misdemeanors alleging he used the auditor’s office copy machine for personal printing, had business and political documents on a county-owned laptop computer and accepted rental payments at his public office. The files included documents for his political campaigns and that of two other Democrats, as well as files related to Kovack’s private rental business, said Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter.

Baxter, who was appointed as special prosecutor in the case after Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman recused himself, said accusations that Kovack had pornography on the laptop were unsubstantiated.

“There was an off-color cartoon, but it was political in nature,” he said, explaining the image was manipulated to depict former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton performing sex acts on the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, both Democrats. “That wasn’t pornography.”

Under Ohio law, pornography is defined as material designed to “arouse lust” without “genuine scientific, educational, sociological, moral or artistic purpose.”

The accusations against Kovack stem from two of his former employees, Annette Ehrlich and Anne Murphy. Ehrlich was fired after an alleged “irate” confrontation in the auditor’s office in September. Murphy resigned from the office in 2013 to work for county Treasurer John Burke, a Republican.

Kovack’s attorney, Steve Bailey, has maintained the charges against Kovack were political in nature, designed to damage his November 2014 re-election campaign — which Kovack went on to won.

Bailey on Friday said the charges are “ridiculous” because he believes all public officials use their offices for minor conveniences.

“There is no political figure who could have this level of scrutiny on their public office and not have charges like this filed against them,” he said. “The true irony of this is the people who brought these accusations did so on public time.”

He also criticized the copy machine charges because Kovack paid for the copies he made, under a policy in his office to allow workers to make personal copies as long as they paid for them.

Bailey stressed that Kovack’s plea of no contest was not an admission of guilty — legally or practically.

“When faced with a situation like this, I think anyone would rather enter a diversion program and have their charges dismissed than spend thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees fighting it,” he said. “He’s doing this against his attorneys’ advice.”

The diversion program lasts about a year and includes psychological evaluation and community service. Municipal Judge Dale H. Chase warned Kovack that the case hinges on his completion of the program.

“If you do not complete the program, the matter is referred back to me and you will be sentenced,” Chase said, explaining each charge is punishable by up to six months in the county jail and up to $1,000 in fines.

Kovack’s deal to enter the diversion program mirrors a similar deal Baxter entered with county Clerk of Courts David Wadsworth, a Republican who entered the diversion program in September 2013 after he too was charged with misusing public funds. After completing the program a year later, Wadsworth’s charges were dismissed and records of the case were sealed. 

Accusations against Wadsworth were that he copied $25 worth of campaign materials using an office printer.

The investigation into Kovack began in April, when Ehrlich — his information technology manager — went to the county sheriff’s office with the allegations. After her firing, Ehrlich went on to sue Kovack and the county in federal court, alleging she was fired because she was a whistleblower. 

The allegations went public in July, when the all-Republican county commissioners, led by then President Pat Geissman, sent a letter to the Ohio Ethics Commission requesting an investigation.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon. 

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A slander lawsuit brought by two former Medina County Jail corrections officers that was dismissed in 2013 is headed back to common pleas court.

According to 9th District Court of Appeals records, Joseph Slinger and Brian Young were interrogated in 2008 after an inmate said corrections officers were involved in a smuggling ring.

An examination of a suspected drug shipment to the jail uncovered no evidence, and test results on suspected cocaine that was supplied by the informant found the substance was not cocaine. The substance later was determined to be prescription medication provided by the jail.

Slinger and Young sued the Sheriff’s Office in 2011, alleging deputies slandered them to other deputies by saying they were “pieces of s—” for smuggling drugs, unlawfully detained them for questioning without evidence and invaded their privacy by accompanying them to the restroom during interrogation, according to court documents.

In 2013, Visiting Common Pleas Judge Thomas P. Curran dismissed the case with a summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff’s Office, which then was led by Sheriff Neil Hassinger. He retired in 2012.

Judge Curran said the defendants never were detained against their will because they were on duty while questioned and “legally obligated to follow the lawful orders of their superior officers.” He also ruled that accompanying them to the restroom did not constitute invasion of privacy and that insulting names are matters of opinion, which aren’t grounds for slander.

On Monday, the appellate judges reversed Curran’s ruling, stating the judge applied the law incorrectly. Judges said Curran failed to view the facts of the case in a light most favorable to Slinger and Young, as is required in making a summary judgment.

The appellate judges also said Curran failed to consider that there were contested facts in the case.

“Accordingly, we are compelled to reverse and remand for the trial,” the judges wrote.

A common pleas court date on the matter as not been set yet.

Sheriff’s Capt. Ken Baca declined to comment on the case. Slinger and Young’s attorney, Orville Reed III, could not be reached for comment.

Slinger and Young each had encounters with the court system following the 2008 incident, according to court records.

Young pleaded guilty in February 2011 to misdemeanor counts related to assaulting a jail inmate in December 2009 while employed by the Sheriff’s Office.

He was placed on three years of probation as part of a plea deal.

Slinger was charged with impersonating a police officer in Wadsworth Municipal Court in 2013. He completed a first offender’s diversion program in October and his case was dismissed.

<em>Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or <a href=”mailto://nglunt@medina-gazette.com”>nglunt@medina-gazette.com</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href=”http://twitter.com/ngfalcon.”>@ngfalcon.</a></em>

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A 75-year-old former Hinckley Township man pleaded no contest Thursday to raping and molesting two young girls and a young man.

James I. Selch was found guilty of three counts of raping children under age 13, three counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition. They are first- and third-degree felonies.

James Selch

He faces possible life in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing March 26 by Medina County Common Pleas Judge Joyce V. Kimbler.

County Prosecutor Dean Holman said Selch’s plea was not the result of an agreement with prosecutors.

“He pled guilty to every count without a plea agreement,” Holman said. “We look forward to the resolution of this case.”
According to his indictment, Selch was charged with raping the girls, who were 8 and 10, from April 2006 to 2007. The young man, who is mentally disabled, was raped three times in October and November 2009.

In addition to changing his plea, Selch dismissed a motion to suppress evidence. In the motion, he alleged he was never read his Miranda rights prior to being interrogated by police.

Selch, who is listed in court records as a resident of West Salem in Wayne County, is being held at the county jail.

<em>Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or <a href=”mailto://nglunt@medina-gazette.com”>nglunt@medina-gazette.com</a>. Follow him on Twitter <a href=”http://twitter.com/ngfalcon.”>@ngfalcon.</a></em>

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Nick Glunt and David Knox | The Gazette

No one was injured when customers and employees evacuated the all-night Denny’s restaurant in Medina Township after an electrical fire broke out in a wall early Sunday.

The fire was reported at about 3:45 a.m. and contained in the front wall of the restaurant, 3105 Medina Road (state Route 18), just west of Interstate 71.

Medina Township Fire Chief Mark Crumley estimated the damage at about $30,000, but added: “It’s hard to estimate how much damage there is in fires like this. I talked to an insurance guy once who said we always underestimate.”

Crumley said the fire probably would have caused much more damage if the restaurant was closed.

“It’s a really good thing it’s open all the time,” Crumley said. “If it wasn’t open 24 hours, no one would have noticed it until the fire had taken the roof.”

Crumley said the cause appeared to be a short in the wiring for the restaurant’s “classic diner” neon exterior lights.

“When we got there, we could smell something burning,” he said, “but we couldn’t see the fire.”

Once firefighters recognized the source, he said it quickly was extinguished. Firefighters remained on the scene until 5:30 a.m.

Roy Main, the restaurant’s manager, said he hoped to reopen soon.

“We expect to be open Monday afternoon — Tuesday at the latest,” he said.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

Contact David Knox at (330) 721-4065 or dknox@medina-gazette.com.

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Jawad Al-Nimer, 57, and passenger, Mufideh Al-Nimer, 78, both of Lorain, died at the scene of a car-trains crash Thursday on state Route 83 near Capel Road in Lorain County. The two were returning from their family business, Gold Rush Jerky, in Litchfield Township. KATIE ANDERSON/GAZETTE

LORAIN — Mufideh Al-Nimer knew food. She knew which dishes to prepare without salt and which to make kosher. She knew how to roll grape leaves into tasty Mediterranean dishes, and she knew how her five sons liked their sandwiches prepared.

Every morning, the 78-year-old mother of 10 would wake up at 4 a.m. and quietly make her way down the stairs of her Lorain home to prepare meals for her children and grandchildren. On many days, her oldest son — 57-year-old Jawad Al-Nimer — would drive the two to their family business in Medina County, where she would deliver the food and the family would spend a day together.

Thursday started off in similar fashion. Jawad Al-Nimer brought his mother to their business, Gold Rush Jerky in Litchfield Township, as he had many times before. He, his mother and his brothers spent time together Thursday with Mufideh Al-Nimer elated over the prospect of her son’s upcoming marriage, before the two got in their car to go home.

But the routine journey — one the mother and son had made frequently over the years — took a tragic turn Thursday afternoon when Jawad Al-Nimer drove his 2015 Chevrolet Malibu onto the railroad crossing at the intersection of Avon Belden Road and Capel Road in Eaton Township about 5 p.m. A westbound CSX train hit the Malibu first; then an eastbound train collided with the car on the other side, according to Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Lt. Travis Hughes.

Both Jawad Al-Nimer, a former architect and father of three, and his mother, Mufideh Al-Nimer, were pronounced dead at the scene.

It was a difficult blow for the Al-Nimer family, many of whom gathered at Mufideh Al-Nimer’s Lorain home Saturday, crowding together and spilling out over the front porch as they talked about their mother and older brother. Even though the circumstances were tragic, the family members shared smiles, remembering Jawad Al-Nimer’s plans for a website design, and a laugh at their mother’s attachment to her computer.

“To us, she was our center of gravity,” one of her sons, Jehad Al-Nimer, said of his mother. After raising 10 children — five sons and five daughters — Mufideh Al-Nimer knew how to bring the family together in many ways, especially through her cooking. She didn’t know many words in English, having lived much of her life in Kuwait, but did know how to say “eat,” Jehad Al-Nimer recalled.

“She took care of all of us,” he said. Even though the family is separated by distance — Mufideh Al-Nimer’s five daughters are in Kuwait — she still took the time to keep them connected with frequent phone calls.

“She was very strong and very smart. Every day I see her, I tell her she’s very smart,” another son, Al Al-Nimer, said of his mother.

The intelligence was mirrored in her children. Al Al-Nimer remembered his brother similarly.

“(Jawad Al-Nimer) was a brilliant person. He could put us all to shame,” Al Al-Nimer said, adding that Jawad Al-Nimer had moved from Kuwait, where he was a successful architect, to Lorain to give his three children — two daughters and a son — a chance at a better education.

It is that quiet intelligence that sticks out in his family’s mind.

“He could talk on any subject you want. He would listen and listen and then talk,” Al Al-Nimer said, adding that his brother — fluent in French, Arabic and English — was above all, thoughtful.

It was a trait that his fiancee, Debbie Lewis, loved about him. She had been his physical therapist at a Cleveland hospital before he asked her out. He waited patiently, she said, for a full month after his therapy ended before he called her.

It was instant love, Lewis said.

“He knew after about two weeks that he wanted to marry me,” she said, adding that he had called his mother the day before the crash to tell her about the upcoming marriage — a topic that made both Jawad Al-Nimer and his mother elated, Lewis said.

“He’s the kind of man that every woman dreams of and rarely gets to meet.”

Contact Anna Merriman at 329-7245 or amerriman@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AnnaLMerriman.

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A Medina man convicted in 2013 of choking his wife will get another trial after an appeals court ruled a Mandarin Chinese interpreter may have “summarized” the wife’s testimony during the trial.

Xiaolong Wang, 26, of Harding Drive, was placed on two years of probation after he was found guilty of domestic violence at a bench trial in March 2013, according to Medina Municipal Court records.

In his appeal, Wang’s attorneys argued that an interpreter made inaccurate or nonspecific translations of the testimony of the wife, who spoke Mandarin Chinese.

Wang said he and his wife’s friend noticed discrepancies because both speak Mandarin Chinese and English.

Wang’s attorneys objected to the interpreter’s translations, but Medina Municipal Judge Dale H. Chase denied the objection because attorneys could provide no specific instances of discrepancies.

The wife’s second day of testimony was translated by another interpreter, whose work was not challenged. Both interpreters were provided by Monarca Language Services, a Medina business contracted by the court.

Ninth District Court of Appeals judges on Monday ordered a retrial, ruling that the first interpreter’s translations were unclear. The judges noted that the court stenographer wrote “unintelligible” in some portions of the record.

“Because most of the testimony given through the first interpreter is unintelligible in the record,” the judges wrote, “it is difficult to determine whether it affected the outcome of the trial and whether it should have been stricken from the record.”

The decision was written by Judge Jennifer Hensal and concurred by former Judge Eve Belfance.

Judge Carla Moore offered a dissenting opinion, arguing the facts of the case made Wang’s guilt clear.

“In this context, a police officer gave unrefuted testimony that the appellant on the evening of his arrest repeatedly admitted that he had choked his wife,” Moore wrote. “The record before us makes clear that any error of the court in failing to dismiss the interpreter on the first day of trial was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Jesse Hodges and Christina Paine pose for a photo posted to Paine’s Facebook profile. (PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK)

A Medina woman had a felony charge dropped Monday in exchange for agreeing to testify against her husband, who’s charged with robbing a man at gunpoint while posing as a state trooper.

Christina Paine, 24, who pleaded guilty to two less serious charges of complicity to robbery and kidnapping as part of a deal with prosecutors, is expected to be sentenced on March 23. She faces up to eight years in prison on both charges.

Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman said the deal with Paine made sense.

“We felt that her testimony would be beneficial at trial,” he said.

Paine’s husband, Jesse Hodges, 31, is scheduled for a Feb. 23 trial on charges of aggravated robbery, robbery, kidnapping and impersonating a police officer. If convicted, he could face 11 or more years in prison.

According to county sheriff’s reports, Hodges intended to intimidate a man who’d been harassing his wife via text message, but targeted the wrong person.

Hodges and Paine met the man at Goddard’s Car Wash in Sharon Township at 9 p.m. May 4, according to reports. Hodges brandished a realistic-looking BB gun and told the man he was part of a sexual predator task force with the Ohio Highway Patrol.

He searched the man’s car and found a firearm, police said, and then told the man he owed a $50 fine.

In a Facebook post on Aug. 3, Hodges said he impersonated a police officer because he felt threatened by the man harassing his wife.

“This dude was threatening to shoot me,” he said.

Hodges said he had been drinking and decided to meet the man. He admitted he made a poor decision, but insisted the victim told police he was never fearful of being seriously injured.

“My story is identical to the ‘victim’ and it’s just insane,” he said, adding that he intended to fight the charges. “They really tried blowing this way out of proportion.”

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Debra Knurek

AVON LAKE — A Medina woman who crashed a wedding reception has pleaded no contest to criminal trespassing.

Debra Knurek, 51, was fined $250 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence during a Thursday appearance in Avon Lake Municipal Court.

According to police, Knurek showed up at the home of All Pro Freight Systems owner Chris Haas, on Nov. 7 and began taking photos at a wedding reception his wife was throwing for her daughter.

Knurek told staff at the reception that she was a photographer from Variety magazine doing a photo shoot of the event. Knurek was found in the garage of the house and was removed by police while she became belligerent and uncooperative.

Police reported she argued about being removed from the event and blamed police for what happened.

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Debbie and Jeff Gillium have been guaranteed 30 more days to keep Archie the bear on their property in Harrisville Township.

Their attorney, John Oberholtzer, said he and the Ohio Department of Agriculture have agreed to postpone a hearing over the bear after the state issued a letter to the Gilliums granting them 30 more days to figure out what to do with Archie.

“We agreed to not do anything today with the understanding that my clients will either try to comply with the terms of the law or we will file an application for a permit, which would let him live out his life on the property,” Oberholtzer said Thursday.

The state has threatened to remove the bear.

Archie’s owners filed a temporary restraining order this month against the Agriculture Department in Medina County Common Pleas Court. A hearing on the matter had been set for Thursday.

In the restraining order, Oberholtzer said the Gilliums never were given a form that would have exempted Archie from the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 2012.

Erica Hawkins, communications director for the Agriculture Department, told The Gazette last week that there was no way the Gilliums could get a permit for the bear under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act because the timeline for them to file had passed.

But Oberholtzer said he doesn’t agree.

“I am not convinced that any system needs to be so absolute,” he said. “We have a 41-year-old bear here and the thing is we want him to live out his life in Lodi.”

Oberholtzer compared it to renewing a motor vehicle’s license plate.

“If you don’t get your license plate renewed on time, you still get to renew it — just late,” he said.

The hearing between the state and the Gilliums has been postponed indefinitely but will be contingent on what action the state takes after the 30 days are up, Oberholtzer said.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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Medina County’s former recycling center operator has sued the county for $1 million over fees.

In its 10-page lawsuit filed Wednesday, Cleveland-based Envision Waste Services alleges county officials agreed in a 2009 contract to pay all federal, state and local fees associated with the facility.

Envision operated the county’s Central Processing Facility in Westfield Township from 1993 until last month, when its contract expired. Trash at the facility was sorted for recyclables before being hauled to a landfill.

According to the lawsuit, disputes between Envision and the county arose in 2010 when then Sanitary Engineer Jim Troike refused to pay landfill fees. Envision and the county failed to reach an agreement at a meeting in May 2010 and the dispute was appealed to the county Solid Waste Policy Committee. Two months later, the committee voted to deny Envision’s appeal, but Envision reserved the right to invoice the fees later.

“To date, the county has refused to pay or reimburse Envision for the local pass-through fees by the two landfills Envision and the county used for the duration of the contract,” the lawsuit says.

The case has been assigned to county Common Pleas Judge Joyce V. Kimbler. No hearing date has yet been scheduled.

This isn’t the first time Envision filed a lawsuit over the recycling center.

In December, Envision unsuccessfully sued the county over its plans to turn the facility into a waste transfer station.

In January, the county transitioned the facility into a transfer station, where all county trash is taken to a landfill operated by Dover-based Kimble Companies.

In addition, sorting for recyclables at the center has ceased. County residents interested in recycling must drop off recyclable materials at the facility.

The county is renting bins from Rumpke Waste and Recycling Services, of Cincinnati, which is servicing the bins at a cost of about $4,600 a month, county Sanitary Engineer Amy Lyon-Galvin has said.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Fifteen people have been charged in what prosecutors describe as a conspiracy to obtain thousands of prescription drugs illegally from pharmacies in Medina County and five other Northeast Ohio counties.

Nine of the people were charged with racketeering. An 87-page, 206-count indictment against the group includes charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, corrupting another with drugs, theft, illegal processing of drug documents, deception to obtain a dangerous drug, drug possession, drug trafficking and possessing criminal tools.

Medina County became involved in the investigation when county Drug Task Force Agent J. Tadd Davis arrested one of the accused conspirators, 25-year-old Christopher Mihalek, at a Lodi pharmacy in September 2013.

It later was discovered that Mihalek, of Akron, also had filled fraudulent prescriptions at a pharmacy in Medina and another in Hinckley Township, as well as elsewhere throughout the region, Davis said.

“I took the information and got a hold of my counterparts in Cleveland, and it was determined that Heather Mitchell — who was well known to them — was doing the same thing up there and they had arrested a lot of people like Mihalek,” Davis said.

Davis said Mitchell, 40, of Cleveland, was a “major distributor” of illegal prescription drugs in the region and the case has involved several police agencies throughout the area since 2012.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said “Mitchell, who has a criminal history in forging prescriptions going back to 1998, led the ring.”

Another Cleveland resident, William Moore Jr., 37, served as recruiter, handler and enforcer, he said.

McGinty said the ring obtained blank prescription pads or created counterfeit prescriptions for narcotics and Mitchell created false prescriptions or had one of her co-defendants steal prescription pads from a doctor’s office.

“Mitchell would then fill out prescriptions for narcotics and send ‘mules’ to fill them at various pharmacies,” McGinty said. “Mitchell paid drivers and mules in cash or in narcotics.”

In addition to the Medina and Cuyahoga county pharmacies, the ring operated in Ashland, Lake, Lorain and Wayne counties, according to the grand jury indictment.

Davis said Mitchell was acquiring blank prescription pads and filling them out with fake names and birthdates to obtain oxycodone. She also had deceptively obtained doctors’ DEA numbers, which made the prescriptions appear legitimate, according to the indictment.

She would pay her co-conspirators with cash or part of the haul, Davis said, and then sell the rest or trade the pills for heroin.

In a Medina County case stemming from his arrest, Mihalek pleaded guilty to illegally processing drug documents and was put on two years of probation in December 2013.

Davis said similar drug rings are becoming more common throughout the area.

He pointed to a case from last year in which two women were suspected of involvement in a multistate drug ring after they filled forged prescriptions at three pharmacies in Medina and two in the Wadsworth area.

“This is what we’re fighting all the time,” Davis said. “It’s a bad thing.”

The secret indictment in Cuyahoga County was filed in August. It was released Wednesday, when Mitchell was scheduled for an arraignment. According to court records, she failed to appear and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Nine of the 15 defendants were indicted on racketeering charges: Mitchell, Moore and Mihalek, as well as Bobby Dickens, 34, of Parma; Danielle New, 30, of Berea; Angela Boiani, 32, of Parma; Nichole Watt, 32, of Parma; Heather Kaput, 37, of Valley View; and James Decore, 32, of Cleveland.

The others charged are Alvin Ratliff, 34, of Cleveland; Scott Joachim, 30, of Cleveland; Novella Mitchell, 22, of Cleveland; Luis Hernandez, 28, of Cleveland; Jonathan Hill, 39, of Cleveland; and Crystal Nolin, 31, of Cleveland.

Contact reporter Nick Glunt at (330) 721-4048 or nglunt@medina-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter @ngfalcon.

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Brunswick police officers helped rescue an elderly woman and six of her pets from a house fire early Monday morning.

The four officers, who arrived at the home at 1462 Princeton Ave. shortly after 5 a.m., rescued an elderly woman, her dog, two birds and at least three cats.

“She had four cats and I believe one did not make it,” police Sgt. Kevin Scullin said. “Our animal control officer took the animals to the shelter.”

Scullin said the officers entered the home with fire extinguishers and were able to remove the woman and her animals before the fire spread.
Firefighters arrived minutes later and put out the fire.

“She called and said her kitchen was filling up with smoke,” Scullin said. “She was somewhat disabled and did not want to leave her animals.”

Scullin said the officers talked the woman into leaving and helped evacuate her dog and at least three of the cats. A bird in a cage also was rescued, and officers helped remove another bird that was free in the apartment.

“I guess they had to use a laundry basket to try and get the other bird out of the house,” Scullin said.

Scullin said the officers did as much as they could.

“They’re not firefighters — their uniforms are not made to handle the heat — and we don’t have the training to do what the Fire Department does,” he said. “We do what we can so long as officer safety isn’t jeopardized,” he said.

The woman was taken to a local hospital as a precaution and released.

Scullin said the Salvation Army is working with the woman to find her a place to stay. Her dog and cats are in the custody of the Brunswick humane officer, who will care for them until they can be released back to her. The birds are in the custody of Middleburg Heights humane officer.

“They have the resources and facilities to care for birds,” Scullin said. “The humane officers work across city lines to try and help each other out.”

Details on the fire, which is believed to have started in the attic, were not available because of the Presidents Day holiday, a staff member at the Brunswick Fire Department said Monday afternoon.

The shift that handled the fire already had left for the day and there were no administrators available to comment on the fire.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com.

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AKRON, Ohio — A popular, small-town police chief who recently resigned in northeast Ohio is being sued by an officer who accuses him of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation.

Brimfield Township Officer Crystal Casterline’s lawsuit filed Monday in Summit County alleges unwanted touching and sexual and derogatory comments by David Oliver. It also says Oliver physically struck her in the throat and thigh.

Casterline publicly shared her allegations last month.

Oliver said when he resigned that false allegations circulated and his management style was used against him. He told the Akron Beacon Journal Monday he hadn’t seen the lawsuit but looks forward to being vindicated in court.

Oliver’s blunt, humorous commentary had made his department’s Facebook page one of the most-liked local law enforcement pages. The page has been temporarily suspended.

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Loren Genson and Andrew Davis | The Gazette

Believe it or not, something good comes with the frigid weather that has gripped the area: Crime has fallen with the plunging temperatures.

“You can certainly sense and feel a difference,” Capt. Kenneth Baca of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office said. “Not only is it cold, but it’s difficult to conceal a crime when you have to walk through the snow to get to and from the scene.”

While statistics aren’t available, a look at the incident reports filed by local police departments found no reports of any thefts or vandalism in Brunswick or Medina, or Hinckley, Medina or Montville townships since the arctic front moved in last weekend.

Baca said warmer temperatures get people moving around outside and when people are outside or traveling, crimes are more likely to happen.

“I would say right now, there are more people staying at home,” he said, adding that occupied homes are less likely to be targeted by burglars.

Brunswick Police Chief Carl DeForest agreed there is a correlation between very low temperatures and a drop in crime.

“I imagine even the bad guys don’t always want to venture out when the temps have a negative sign in front of them,” DeForest said. “I would believe there is a correlation and it has been a bit slow crime-wise in the city here as well,” he said.

Medina Police Chief Patrick Berarducci agreed.

“When you have dangerous cold and winds, we don’t see a lot of people at all — and that includes criminals,” he said. “I think everybody is staying off the roads. They’re trying to stay warm and stay safe.”

The bitter cold is expected to continue through Friday.

Snow showers are forecast for today, with a high of 12 and a low of minus 2 degrees. Worse is predicted for Thursday, when another blast of arctic air is expected to bring a high of 3 degrees and the overnight low of 13 below — possibly the coldest night so far this year.

City officials say road crews are prepared.

“We are continuing to work on snow and ice removal,” Brunswick Service Director Pat McNamara said. “They are equipped with cold-weather gear and during wind chills we advise them to keep their skin covered.”

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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