Staff and wire reports | The Gazette

The FBI has joined an investigation to determine whether an accused serial killer who was arrested in Medina County last month was involved in any unsolved slayings in the area.

Robert Rembert Jr.

Robert Rembert Jr., 45, was arrested Sept. 21 as he emerged from a shower at Truck Stop of America, 8834 Lake Road, Westfield Township, county sheriff’s Capt. Ken Baca said.

Baca said Medina County authorities had very little involvement in the arrest.

“The only thing we had to do with it was a departmental assist to the Cleveland Police Department,” Baca said.

Rembert is charged in Cuyahoga County with multiple counts of aggravated murder in four slayings — three this year and one in 1997. Besides 10 counts of aggravated murder, Rembert also was indicted on charges of kidnapping, rape, aggravated robbery, grand theft and gross abuse of a corpse. Rembert pleaded not guilty Friday and is being held on $5 million bond.

Rembert was arrested in Westfield Township the day after the bodies of his cousin, 52-year-old Jerry Rembert, and 26-year-old Morgan Nietzel were discovered at a Cleveland home he shared with the pair. Both died of gunshot wounds.

Nietzel’s vehicle also was found at the truck stop. Baca said the vehicle reportedly was stolen after Nietzel was killed.

Prosecutors have said DNA evidence also ties Rembert to the strangulation deaths of 47-year-old Rena Mae Payne in 1997 and 31-year-old Kimberly Hall this June. Prosecutors say the two women were sexually assaulted.

Payne’s body was discovered in an employee restroom at a Regional Transit Authority bus turnaround. Rembert was an RTA bus driver at the time and knew the entry code for the restroom, prosecutors said.

Hall’s body was found in a field on Cleveland’s east side.

“Robert Rembert is a serial killer,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said last week. “So far, we know he’s purposefully executed five people.”

The FBI’s involvement is an attempt to connect Rembert to more killings.

McGinty said investigators will examine routes that Rembert, a truck driver, drove in Ohio and Pennsylvania to see if he can be tied to any unsolved slayings. An FBI spokeswoman on Friday confirmed that agents would assist prosecutors and Cleveland homicide detectives in the investigation.

One of Rembert’s newly assigned attorneys declined to comment Friday.

This isn’t the first time Rembert faced charges for killing someone. In 1998, Rembert pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to six years in prison for the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Dadren Lewis.

An appeals court has “refused” to uphold the conviction of a former University of Akron football player who was charged with stealing a $500 water pipe from a Brunswick tobacco shop at gunpoint in 2013.

“To adopt the state’s position in this case would, in essence, permit law enforcement officers to seize any individual located within close proximity to a recent crime scene for no other reason than the fact that he is of the same gender as the suspect,” 9th District Court of Appeals judges wrote. “We emphatically refuse to go down that path.”

Seth Cunningham

In their 2-1 decision Monday, judges remanded the case to Medina County Common Pleas Court after they reversed the conviction of Seth Cunningham, now 24, of Montville Township. Cunningham was charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 11 years in prison, and the use of a gun added three years mandatory prison time to his sentence.

Cunningham pleaded no contest to the charge in March 2014 after Judge Christopher J. Collier denied a motion to suppress evidence filed by Cunningham’s attorneys. If granted, the motion would have barred prosecutors from presenting testimony about Cunningham’s arrest during his criminal trial.

Collier in April 2014 ordered Cunningham to serve the minimum possible sentence of six years in prison. Cunningham told the judge he was a heavy marijuana user, and he robbed the store because he didn’t have anything to smoke the pot with.

Cunningham has served 1ﾽ years at Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield.

On Tuesday, Cunningham’s attorneys — Joseph Salzgeber and father-daughter team Gerald and Melissa Piszczek — filed a motion to have Cunningham released from prison on bond while the case returns to county court.

According to testimony at a suppression hearing in November 2013, Brunswick police officer Sam Gagliardi was called to the scene of a robbery at Twilight Boutique — a 24-hour “head shop” that sells tobacco products in the city’s Archway Plaza — shortly after midnight on May 13, 2013.

Gagliardi testified that the shop worker gave him a description of the robber: a 5-foot, 8-inch man wearing a camouflage jacket and a ski mask. The worker said the robber pointed a gun — which later was found to be not loaded — during the incident.

While another officer stayed to collect evidence, Gagliardi said he searched the area for the suspect. While driving his cruiser down Clemson Road, about a quarter-mile from Twilight Boutique, Gagliardi said he saw a black pickup abruptly pull into a driveway. Gagliardi said he noticed the driver slouching in the driver’s seat instead of getting out of the truck, so the officer drew his gun and approached the vehicle.

As it turned out, Cunningham was the vehicle’s driver and police found a camouflage jacket, an unloaded 9mm handgun and the stolen water pipe in the truck.

While Cunningham was handcuffed, police said, he admitted to stealing the pipe.

Cunningham’s attorneys had argued it didn’t matter what was found inside the truck because the officer violated Cunningham’s Fourth Amendment rights in the act of discovering the items. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unlawful search and seizure by police.

Judge Collier disagreed with Cunningham’s lawyers and overruled their motion to suppress evidence.

However, the appellate judges agreed with Cunningham’s attorneys.

“The only information concerning the robbery that Officer Gagliardi possessed at the time he approached Mr. Cunningham’s truck was that the suspect was a five-foot, eight-inch-tall male who wore a camouflage jacket and a ski mask,” they said. “The only similarity between this description of the robbery suspect and Mr. Cunningham at the moment of the seizure was the fact that Mr. Cunningham was a male.”

Appellate judges criticized the officer’s judgment.

“Stated differently,” they wrote, “Officer Gagliardi knew nothing connecting the driver of the black truck to the robbery at the time that he pointed his firearm at Mr. Cunningham and ordered him from the vehicle.”

The appellate judges said there was a “whole host of innocent explanations” as to why a vehicle might abruptly pull into a driveway.

At the suppression hearing, Gagliardi testified it could have been someone who passed out drunk or was suffering a medical issue.

County Prosecutor Dean Holman told The Gazette his office may appeal the ruling to the state’s highest court.

“We in this office respect the Court of Appeals’ decision, but we expressly disagree with the ruling,” Holman said, “and we’re strongly considering an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.”

He said Gagliardi acted within the law when he approached Cunningham’s vehicle because the truck was parked over a sidewalk — in violation of a Brunswick ordinance.

“He had a reasonable, articulable suspicion that a crime was afoot,” Holman said. “We believe the officer was acting properly in the case.”

The appellate opinion was penned by Judge Julie Schafer and concurred by Judge Carla Moore.

Judge Donna Carr dissented, using arguments similar to Holman’s. She said Gagliardi had reasonable suspicion when he approached the vehicle — even if the crime afoot was not robbery.

“Upon approaching the vehicle, Officer Gagliardi saw the driver shrink down in his seat as if to avoid detection, an indication that the driver may have been attempting to shield illegal activity,” Carr wrote. “Knowing that an armed robbery had very recently occurred in the vicinity, the officer acted reasonably in drawing his weapon and ordering Cunningham to exit the vehicle in the interest of officer safety.”

However, Carr said Cunningham’s confession and subsequent questioning by police should not have been included in the record because Cunningham was not properly read his Miranda rights, in which suspects are informed of their rights to an attorney and the right to remain silent.

“I would conclude that the entire line of questioning retained the taint of impropriety,” Carr wrote.

In a comment to The Gazette, Brunswick police Chief Carl DeForest defended Gagliardi’s actions.

“Given the fact that a uniformed police officer oftentimes has seconds to make a decision based on limited information, and an appeals court judge has weeks or months to postulate after reviewing volumes of information, I trust my officer did the right thing for the right reason in this case,” DeForest said. “His actions were reasonable and resulted in the arrest of an armed robbery suspect.

“It’s far more difficult these days to be a police officer than an appeals court judge.”

Cunningham’s attorneys did not return a message asking for comment Wednesday.

EATON TWP. — A man attempted to rob a convenience store just after midnight Tuesday before heading south to Lodi where he robbed another store a few hours later, deputies said.

Lorain County Sheriff Detective Jason Smith said a man wearing a skull mask entered Circle K, 35000 Royalton Road, and tried to rob the store by threatening the clerk with a small knife.

Smith said the store clerk refused to give the man any money and the suspect ran from the store and left in a vehicle.

Shortly before 3 a.m. the same man wearing a skull mask and holding a small knife robbed a Circle K in Lodi, Smith said, and it’s unknown whether he made off with any money at that location.

“Two hours later he robbed another store that’s a straight shot down (state Route) 83,” Smith said.

Surveillance footage is still being gathered to determine if the suspect has any other identifying characteristics or what kind of vehicle he drove away in.

Smith said the Sheriff’s Office tends to see a spike in store robberies in the fall and winter. Two weeks ago, a man dressed as Spider-Man carrying a shotgun robbed Dollar General, 200 Sheffield Center, and no one has been arrested for that incident, Smith said.

“This is the season for robberies,” Smith said. “It starts now and goes all the way through Christmas.”

Anyone with information about any of the robberies should call Smith at (440) 329-3800.

Staff and wire reports | The Gazette

On Friday night, a Summit County jury unanimously sentenced a man to life in prison in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Akron police officer at a bar last year.

Kenan Ivery shot Officer Justin Winebrenner, a Wadsworth native, and wounded four more people last November after returning to the Akron bar where he’d been kicked out earlier.

Justin Winebrenner

The jurors, who convicted 36-year-old Ivery on Oct. 15 after two days of deliberation, heard more testimony in the sentencing phase. Ivery previously testified that he was scared and didn’t mean to shoot Winebrenner during a struggle. In court Friday, Ivery said he’s “not a monster.”

Prosecutors contended that Ivery went to his car, got a gun and returned seeking vengeance. Ivery testified he returned to retrieve food he had left, and that he fired in self-defense after being surrounded by Winebrenner and several other men.

Winebrenner, who had been an Akron police officer for seven years, was hit twice in the torso and died. Ivery, a convicted drug dealer who’s spent several years in prison, was arrested nearby. Winebrenner was survived by his fiancee and their young daughter.

An accused burglar’s third trial in five years on the same charges was delayed Monday after his attorney filed a last-minute appeal.

Matthew Hartman

Medina County juries in 2010 and 2012 found Matthew J. Hartman, 46, formerly of Harrisville Township, guilty of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Both convictions were overturned by the 9th District Court of Appeals — first because of an unredacted 911 call played at trial and second because “the prosecuting attorney(s) are much too personally invested in this case to be objective.”

Hartman was sentenced to five years in prison after his first conviction. He served has four years, but now is free pending his new trial.

Prosecutors accused Hartman of storming a friend’s house with the intent to harm his wife, with whom he had just fought. According to court records, Hartman arrived with a gun and was calmed by his friend before police arrived.

After Hartman’s second conviction was overturned, his attorney — retired federal prosecutor Marilyn Cramer — filed a motion to dismiss the case without trial. She argued judges, prosecutors and court reporters who served during her client’s first two trials colluded to have him convicted despite his purported innocence.

None of the prosecutors or judges from the first two trials would have been involved in the trial should it have started Monday. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove were appointed to handle the third trial.

In the motion to dismiss, Cramer argued that a Medina County judge and court reporter altered court records to make Hartman seem guilty. As support, she included affidavits from several other convicts who made similar accusations.

Cosgrove denied Cramer’s motion because it was “based upon supposition and innuendo” and was supported by “no credible evidence.”

“These individuals can hardly be deemed as impartial witnesses,” Cosgrove wrote. “This defendant has failed to produce any case precedent that would permit this court to dismiss this case predicated on the memory of others that ‘believe’ that the testimony as they heard it was different from the official court record.”

In addition, Cosgrove denied a motion to suppress that would have blocked prosecutors from presenting crucial evidence at Hartman’s trial.

Cramer appealed Cosgrove’s rulings to the 9th District Court of Appeals on Monday.

Appellate judges often take months to make rulings. They could rule to dismiss the charges against Hartman or affirm the judge’s decision and order the trial to continue.

No judges, prosecutors, court employees, witnesses, attorneys or defendants could be reached for this story because of a gag order issued by Cosgrove. The judge warned parties in the case that discussion with the news media about the upcoming trial could result in sanctions.

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office is seeking donations from the community for a new police dog so Hero, a 10-year-old German shepherd, can retire.

Medina County Sheriff’s Deputy Dave King and Medina Township police Officer Cliff Nicholson Jr. pose with police dog Hero after a drug bust in April. PHOTO PROVIDED

“The dog is beyond the normal age that K-9s perform,” Sheriff Tom Miller said. “We’re thinking we’d like to add a second K-9, but before we do that, we want to replace the one we have so he can retire.”

Miller said it’s fairly common for police agencies to ask the community for donations, and it seemed like a good idea in this case because the office couldn’t fit the purchase of another police dog into the budget.

He said Hero — who was acquired by the office in 2006 and whose handler is Deputy Dave King — has been more active in recent years because of the heroin epidemic plaguing the county.

“From 2013 to 2014, our one aging canine saw a 39 percent increase in overall program activity,” Miller said. “We have a need for a strong K-9 unit. We have officers who are committed to being part of that K-9 unit, but we lack the funds necessary to accomplish this goal.”

The sheriff’s office has applied for a grant to obtain a new police dog, but the grant is competitive, he said.

Miller said any donations to help get a new dog would be tax-deductible and would go to a good cause. The hope is to get a new dog trained in the detection of narcotics, which Miller said would help to slow the flow of heroin and other drugs into the county.

Miller estimated the total cost of getting a new dog at about $15,000, which includes training for the dogs and deputies, as well as upgrades for cruisers to house the dog and other equipment.

“We need the help of the community,” Miller said, “to ensure that this valuable unit can be maintained and hopefully expanded.”

To help

Donations can be dropped off or mailed to the Medina County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Fund at 555 Independence Drive, Medina, OH 44256.

MEDINA — A Liverpool Township man was arrested Monday in connection with a series of robberies at convenience stores and motels in Medina, Lorain and Cuyahoga counties, Medina County sheriff’s Capt. Ken Baca said.

Nathan A. Holsman, 29, is charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 11 years in prison.

Holsman is accused of wearing a skull mask while robbing Circle K stores in Eaton Township in Lorain County and Lodi at knifepoint. Surveillance footage was gathered in an attempt to identify him.

Baca said Holsman also may be connected to robberies at motels in Strongsville and Medina Township.

Additional charges against Holsman are pending, Baca said.

Holsman is in the custody of the sheriff’s office pending his arraignment, which hasn’t been set yet.

A Wadsworth man pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge in the death of a co-worker.

Kevin Udell

Kevin Udell, 36, of the 600 block of Trease Road, faces 15 years to life in prison if he’s convicted.

Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman said the charges were the result of an Oct. 2 workplace disagreement at Windfall Industries, 150 Quadral Drive.

“The victim suffered injuries,” Holman said, “and was initially transported to the emergency room in Wadsworth. He was then taken to a hospital in Akron, where he later died of his injuries.”

The man, who was 61, died on Oct. 8. Holman declined to say what may have led to the disagreement or what injuries the man received.

“I’m not going to get into the evidence at this time,” Holman said.

Wadsworth police did not return a call seeking comment.

According to court records, Udell initially was charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to eight years in prison. After the other man died, a judge dismissed the felonious assault charge and prosecutors charged Udell with murder instead.

His case will be heard by county Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier.

Attorney Kristopher Aupperle was appointed to represent Udell, and a tentative trial date was scheduled for December. Aupperle could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Udell is being held at the county jail on $1 million bond.

A nonprofit that provides employment opportunities for 12 people with developmental disabilities was burglarized Sunday night in Medina.

Medina police Sgt. Scott Marcum said someone broke into the cafe, 406 S. Broadway St., Sunday night.

“It was reported first thing Monday morning when they opened,” he said.

More than $600 in cash was taken, a window was broken and damage was done inside the building as well, he said.

“They took money out of the cash register and stole a safe and took money out of a donation box,” Marcum said.

He said police have no leads on a suspect yet, but the investigation is ongoing.

The coffee shop, which sits just in front of the Champion Creek trailhead, also serves as a bicycle rental.

The nonprofit informed customers about the break-in on its Facebook page.

“Donations were being raised to purchase an espresso machine,” the Facebook post read. “This theft has put that fund back to zero.”

An industrial espresso machine costs about $5,000.

Laura Parnell, with Cool Beans Cafe on Medina’s Public Square, said her cafe partners with Spokes.

When she learned what happened Sunday, she started an online fundraiser at gofundme.com/l0qzpw. In 23 hours, the campaign raised $2,214, more than triple what was lost.

By Wednesday night, $2,239 had been raised.

“It is amazing what people will do when there’s an issue like this,” Parnell said. “I know that Medina is a very supportive and giving community, but I didn’t expect that big an outpouring of support so quickly.”

Spokes also is hosting a fundraiser 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 7 at the cafe. Customers and the Medina community are asked to stop by that day to buy a coffee or make a donation.

“We know Medina is a wonderful and supportive community and the Spokes staff would truly appreciate your help,” the cafe’s Facebook post read.

David Clardy, director of Peace Works, which is the nonprofit organization that manages Spokes, said the organization was in the process of trying to get security cameras donated before the break-in. The installation and monitoring will cost about $500 annually, he said.

“We were looking to have that donated, including the monthly monitoring,” he said. “But that was an expense that we couldn’t wait on anymore.”

Clardy said the donations coming in could be used toward the expense of the cameras or for the espresso machine or other needs the organization may have.

“There are plenty of needs,” he said. “We don’t always do enough revenue to make our payroll, so we subsidize that already.”

Spokes held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June to celebrate its opening, Clardy said.

“We’ve always been kind of low key with private donations; so now, all of a sudden, we’ve gotten back more than what we lost,” he said. “I am blown away. It just makes me feel really good about living in Medina.”

Gazette reporter Bob Finnan contributed to this report.

Eight individuals have been indicted in connection with a drug-trafficking organization operating in Ashland, Medina and Wayne counties, according to authorities.

Among the 116 total charges filed against the suspects, six individuals are accused of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity relating to the sale of heroin and cocaine, including heroin in pill form, according to a news release from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher Tunnell, Ashland County Sheriff E. Wayne Risner, the Medina County Drug Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Prosecutors with the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office and Attorney General DeWine’s Special Prosecutions Section presented the case to an Ashland County grand jury on Friday, and several arrests were made Monday.

The investigation was led by investigators with the Medina County Drug Task Force, Ashland County Sheriff’s Office and DEA operating as part of an Ohio Attorney General’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission task force, the news release said.

Authorities began investigating the case after receiving information that the alleged ringleader of the operation, Richard Lawless, 48, of Polk, was trafficking drugs in the tri-county area. Authorities served multiple search warrants and conducted several controlled buys in connection with the case, uncovering heroin, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana with a combined estimated street value of more than $1 million. Authorities also seized cash, illegally owned guns and items used to make heroin in pill form, the news release said.

“Richard Lawless has been a menace to the area for a number of years,” Medina County Drug Task Force director Gary Hubbard said. “The collaboration between local, state and federal authorities was paramount in the significant criminal charges that Richard Lawless and his associates are facing.”

All but one of the suspects were in custody Tuesday:

• Michael Kouns, 26, of Polk;
• Sarah Krupansky, 28, of Polk;
• David Wertman, 18, of Copley;
• James Diaz, 44, of Sullivan;
• Raymond Krupansky, 29, of Spencer;
• Vicki Stoyko, 56, of Chippewa Lake.

Hubbard said he could release no information on the final suspect.

“We’re not permitted to release their name until they’re actually been taken into custody,” he said. “The U.S. marshals are currently looking for them. There’s no real good idea where they are.”

Lawless also is facing multiple counts of felonious assault, aggravated burglary and abduction relating to crimes he allegedly committed before his arrest, the news release said.

“Heroin abuse and addiction are at epidemic levels in Ohio and across the country, and state, local and federal law enforcement are working hard to make sure traffickers don’t get away with pushing this deadly drug,” DeWine said. “The fact that some members of this operation were not only selling heroin, but also disguising it in the form of a pill is especially concerning.”

Medina police are investigating how a realistic-looking toy gun ended up discarded near a playground in Ray Mellert Park.

The gun was reported to police Tuesday afternoon by a passer-by who spotted it in the grass.

This realistic-looking toy pellet gun was found near a playground in Miller Park on Tuesday. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

“She was talking near the playground area in Mellert Park and found the gun,” Sgt. Ed Kinney said. “She didn’t touch it, and Sgt. (Calvin) Undercoffer went over and retrieved it.”

Kinney said the gun appears to be a pellet gun, but that’s all the police know about it.

“These sorts of toy guns don’t have ID numbers on them or anything,” he said. “It’s just a very realistic-looking fake gun that a concerned citizen noticed in a playground.”

Kinney said toy guns often have an orange ring around the tip to let people know it’s not real.

In the wake of the shooting by Cleveland police of 12-year-old Tamir Rice — who wielded a similar toy gun when he was fatally shot — Ohio lawmakers have called on toy manufacturers to require the different-colored tips.

Differentiation is important to ensure safety, Kinney said.

“Looking at this gun, if someone were to point it, I don’t think anyone could tell it wasn’t a real gun,” the sergeant said. “I’m a gun enthusiast. I couldn’t tell when it was presented to me.”

Anyone with information about the gun is asked to call Medina police on the non-emergency line at (330) 725-7777.

A Medina man injured in a hit-skip accident was listed in critical condition Wednesday.

Bicyclist John Zavisza, 48, of Medina, was hit by a white Nissan SUV at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday at Marks Road and Yellowstone Drive. The driver of the SUV reportedly fled the scene at a high rate of speed, police said.

Officers from Medina Township and Medina police combed the area in an attempt to locate the SUV.

According to a news release from Medina Township police, Zavisza has a skull fracture and brain bleed. Zavisza was listed in critical condition Wednesday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. He was unconscious when Medina Township Police Department officers arrived at the scene.

This photo was shared in the search for the white Nissan SUV believed to be responsible for a hit-and-run crash Tuesday. PHOTO PROVIDED.

The Medina Township Fire Department and the Medina Life Support Team arrived and prepared Zavisza to be flown by helicopter to MetroHealth.

The driver of the SUV, a white female, turned herself in to Medina Township police at about 3 p.m.
Tuesday.

A picture of her vehicle was obtained by a resident on Yellowstone Drive and was posted on Facebook and released to the print and electronic news media.

Information about the crash was broadcast to all law-enforcement agencies in the area, with assistance from the Medina Township and Montville Township Police Department’s Facebook pages.

No charges had been filed Wednesday in the case, which remains under investigation, police said.

FOX LAKE, Ill. — Public works employees were pulling down the blue ribbons residents had tied to trees and poles as a tribute to their slain hero. Signs around the small town that had praised the cop known as “G.I. Joe” suddenly disappeared, replaced in one case by another that labeled him “G.I. Joke.”

The friends and neighbors of police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz reacted with disbelief and dismay to authorities’ announcement Wednesday that the popular Fox Lake, Illinois, officer not only meticulously staged his own suicide to make it look like he died in the line of duty, but had been stealing for years from a police club for youth that he oversaw.

“It’s breaking my heart,” said Mark Weihofen, a 41-year-old school bus mechanic. “There is a ‘We love you, Joe’ sign that I pass by every day. … It was already down.”

Investigators said they believed the 30-year police veteran — whose death prompted a weekslong manhunt and whose funeral drew thousands of mourners — killed himself because his criminal activity was about to be exposed.

Recovered text messages and other records now show the 52-year-old Gliniewicz embezzled from the village’s Police Explorer program for seven years, spending the money on mortgage payments, travel expenses, gym memberships, adult websites and loans to friends, Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander George Filenko said.

“Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal,” Filenko said. “We completely believed from Day One that this was a homicide.”

The revelations stunned people in Fox Lake, a village of 10,000 about 50 miles north of Chicago where the 52-year-old married father of four had long been a role model.

“I haven’t got my thoughts together yet. It’s shocking,” said Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit, a friend of Gliniewicz’s who said the officer wanted to meet the day before his death to ensure that the Police Explorer program would continue after what he said was his planned retirement at month’s end.

“You never thought he was this kind of man,” said Kathy Pederson, a single mother who considered Gliniewicz a father figure for her son in the Explorers program. Now, she said, “People are outraged and they are taking down the posters. … They want their money back.”

The reaction to Gliniewicz’s deception extended beyond Fox Lake.

A Washington, D.C.-based organization responsible for collecting the names of officers killed in the line of duty — the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund — quickly removed Gliniewicz’s name and photo from its website and said his name would no longer be etched onto a marble monument dedicated to fallen officers. After his death, pundits had called Gliniewicz a victim of an increasingly dangerous environment for police as some citizens challenge what they see as overzealous enforcement.

An organization that assists survivors of officers killed in the line of duty, the 100 Club of Chicago, asked the Gliniewicz family to return a $15,000 donation. And Motorola Solutions, which announced in September it would put up a $50,000 reward toward information leading to the arrest of Gliniewicz’s killer, said that the money will be donated to the Explorer program to replace stolen funds, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Still, 24-year-old Ashley Scott said there are a number of people in Fox Lake who don’t believe the officer killed himself.

“I say he died of police corruption — either his corruption or somebody else’s,” she said.

Investigators said Gliniewicz’s death was carefully staged. Minutes before he died, he radioed he was chasing three suspicious men into a swampy area. Backup officers found the Army veteran’s body about 50 yards from his squad car.

The first bullet from his handgun had struck his cellphone and ballistic vest. The second pierced his upper chest, under the vest. The swampy terrain was otherwise undisturbed, Filenko said.

By then, an intense and costly manhunt had begun, with hundreds of officers searching houses, cabins and even boats on area lakes. Helicopters with heat-sensing scanners and K-9 units scoured the area for days. More than 100 investigators stayed on the case for weeks.

When questions arose about the investigation in September, Gliniewicz’s family dismissed the suggestion of suicide. He “never once” thought of taking his own life and was excited about his retirement plans, his son D.J. Gliniewicz insisted.

Incriminating texts and Facebook messages Gliniewicz sent tell a different story, revealing his increasing anxiety after Fox Lake hired its first professional administrator, Anne Marrin. She began auditing all the village departments, including the Explorer program.

Gliniewicz deleted the messages, but investigators recovered them, and released some of them verbatim on Wednesday, without identifying whom he sent them to.

“If she gets ahold of the old checking account, im pretty well f***ed,” the officer wrote in May.

On Aug. 31, the day before Gliniewicz’s death, Marrin said she asked him for an inventory of the Explorers program.

In one of the texts, Gliniewicz discussed trying to get Marrin out of office, perhaps by arresting her for drunken driving, but also mentioning “planting things” and a remote bog in the area.

The officer’s relatives now have asked for time and privacy. A statement issued through their lawyers said Wednesday had “been another day of deep sorrow for the Gliniewicz family.”

The post ‘It’s breaking my heart': Illinois village shocked, dismayed about police officer’s theft, suicide appeared first on Chronicle-Telegram.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Thirteen years after he went missing from his Alabama home as a 5-year-old, a young man has been found unharmed, living under an assumed name with his father in Ohio, and authorities say the case broke open when his Social Security number raised red flags during college applications.

Julian Hernandez, 2002 vs. 2015

Julian Hernandez’s mother reported him missing from the Birmingham area in 2002 after his father left her a note saying he’d taken the boy, police said. After years of dead ends, officials said, the key tip came in on Oct. 30.

Hernandez was doing well in school in Ohio and was applying to several colleges, but there was an issue with his Social Security number, according to police in Vestavia Hills, near Birmingham. He approached a school counselor, who was trying to help when she realized Hernandez was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, District Attorney Brandon Falls in Jefferson County, Alabama, told local media outlets.

Apparently, Hernandez had been living with his father, 53-year-old Bobby Hernandez, in Cleveland, on the city’s west side, authorities said. Both were living under assumed names with a woman and two other children, according to officials, and Julian Hernandez probably didn’t know he was listed as missing.

Bobby Hernandez

Bobby Hernandez has been charged with tampering with records in Ohio to get a driver’s license in 2012, and police say he’ll face additional charges in Alabama. He’s being held in Ohio on a $250,000 bond.

“We are in the process of getting charges on him and when that happens, when he is adjudicated in Ohio, then he will be extradited back to Jefferson County,” Lt. Johnny Evans of the Vestavia Hills police said.

Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls told local media outlets that he’s seeking charges involving interference with custody — a felony carrying a prison term of one to 10 years.

Court records show that Hernandez was declared indigent in Ohio. A message seeking comment was left at court-appointed attorney Ralph DeFranco’s office Thursday.

Prosecutor’s spokesman Joseph Frolik said the investigation is ongoing, but he had no additional comment Thursday. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 12.

Lt. Kevin York said police in Alabama have been in contact with the young man’s mother, who still lives in the Birmingham area. He said she has asked police not to release her name or address and has requested privacy.

“She was very happy that he had been found, quite ecstatic, but she was also somewhat hesitant because there had been so many false leads through the years,” York said.

When she reported him missing, she told police that Bobby Hernandez had come over to watch Julian, Evans said. He left her a note saying he had taken him and that was the last time she saw her son, Evans said. The two were not married, and police tried to locate Bobby Hernandez but couldn’t find an address, Evans said.

Officers received “hundreds of leads over the years of where he might be, from Florida to out of the country — Canada — and we followed up on every one of them, and they all turned out to be a dead end until I got the call Monday,” Evans said.

What happens next, in part, will be up to Julian Hernandez.

“He is 18, he is an adult, so it’s kind of up to him now as to whether he wants to come back,” Evans said.

A bicyclist injured in a hit-skip accident last week died Friday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.

John Zavisza, 48, of Brunswick, is survived by his wife of 13 years, Theresa, a son, a stepson and a stepdaughter.

Township Police Chief David Arbogast told The Gazette on Sunday that the department would have a statement today.

Arbogast previously said officers had consulted with prosecutors and charges were pending.

Zavisza was hit by a white Nissan SUV about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday at Marks Road and Yellowstone Drive. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition with a skull fracture and a brain bleed, according to Medina Township police.

A female driver of the SUV turned herself in to the police about 3 p.m. A picture of the vehicle that was believed to have struck Zavisza had been posted on social media.

Visiting hours for Zavisza will be 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Carlson Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, 1642 Pearl Road, Brunswick.

Eric Warfel, whose 20-month-old daughter’s body was found decomposed in her crib in July, has been found competent to stand trial after a psychological evaluation.

Eric Warfel and his attorney, Michael O’Shea, listen to proceedings Monday in Medina County Common Pleas Court. NICK GLUNT/GAZETTE

Warfel, 34, of Medina, was scheduled to begin a trial by jury Monday. After receiving the results of Warfel’s evaluation, however, his attorney asked the court to delay the trial. Warfel now is scheduled for trial in January.

Warfel faces charges of gross corpse abuse, evidence tampering, cocaine possession and three counts of child endangering. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, which would have put Warfel in a mental institution instead of prison. But the evaluation by an Akron Psycho-Diagnostic Clinic psychiatrist means he’ll go to trial and face possible prison time instead.

Warfel is accused by police and prosecutors of failing to contact police or medical professionals after he found his 20-month-old daughter, Ember, dead in her crib in mid-June. Her body was discovered “badly decomposed” in a Forest Meadows Apartment Homes unit on July 29, police said.

Ember Warfel

Police said Warfel had been living in a motel in Middleburg Heights when his daughter’s body was discovered. Warfel was arrested later that day at Crocker Park Shopping Center in Westlake, where he was shopping with another daughter.

Ember Warfel’s body was transferred to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, which has not yet ruled on the girl’s cause of death. Prosecutors have said Warfel could face additional charges based on the results of the girl’s autopsy.

In court Monday, Warfel’s attorney, Michael O’Shea, asked the judge to re-examine Warfel’s $1 million bond, which has kept him at the county jail pending court proceedings.

Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier said he would rule on the bond issue Friday. He asked O’Shea and county Prosecutor Dean Holman to submit written arguments on the issue no later than Thursday.

Another of Warfel’s children, Erin, 5 months old, was found dead in March 2013. Her death was ruled “sudden unexplained infant death, sustained in a manner undetermined,” and no charges were filed.

A 33-year-old Sharon Township man pleaded no contest Monday to stealing music equipment worth more than $15,000 from a church in broad daylight.

Andrew Bonarrigo and his attorney, Jeff Holland, listen to court proceedings on Monday. Bonarrigo pleaded no contest on Monday to charges of stealing music equipment from a Sharon Township church. (NICK GLUNT / GAZETTE)

Andrew Bonarrigo, who goes by Andy, faces up to 3 1/2 years in prison at his sentencing hearing next month. He was scheduled to stand trial on three charges of theft — fourth- and fifth-degree felonies — on Monday, but instead changed his plea.

Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Salisbury said the agreement to change the plea was reached after prosecutors said they would not press additional charges in the case.

“I have told (Bonarrigo’s attorney) Mr. (Jeff) Holland there will be no additional charges such as burglary or otherwise,” Salisbury said. “Bonarrigo has been forthcoming in this case.”

According to sheriff’s reports, Bonarrigo is accused of stealing a drum set, tambourines, amplifiers, drumsticks, microphones, microphone stands, laptop computers, wires and cables from Northside Christian Church on Aug. 8.

Witnesses watched Bonarrigo take the equipment and surveillance cameras captured him in the act. Sheriff’s deputies said no one stopped him taking the items because they thought he was supposed to be there.

Church ministers said they alerted other churches in the area to be on the lookout for a thief after the items were taken. On Aug. 19, a church in Norton called police to report a suspicious person and Bonarrigo was arrested.

Some of the stolen property was recovered, while other pieces of property had been sold to pawn shops.

According to court records, Bonarrigo has a history of theft. In January, he was convicted of theft in Summit County and a judge sentenced him to probation.

A man wanted for questioning in connection with a fatal shooting in Green was arrested Monday evening at a Medina apartment.

Spencer Sims

Medina police reported Spencer Sims, 22, who also goes by his middle name Aaron, was found hiding in a closet in an apartment in the Birch Manor Apartment complex on Miner Drive.

Sims, who is listed in court records as homeless, was detained for questioning by Summit County sheriff’s detectives, who identified Sims as a suspect in the homicide of 27-year-old Corey Seibel. Seibel was killed Sunday during a drug deal; he was shot five times in the chest, according court records.

Sims was charged with complicity to aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 11 years in prison. He’s accused of stealing marijuana from Seibel while another man shot him. The other man has not been identified.

Five other people also were arrested at or near the Medina apartment where Sims was discovered. They were accused of lying to police about Sims’ presence there, Police Chief Patrick Berarducci said.

Brandon Perry

Cerena Osborne

Christian Alexander

Jeff Turner

Krystal Claycomb

According to police reports, those arrested were Jeff Turner, 29, of Medina; Krystal Claycomb, 20, of Medina; Brandon Perry, 32, of Medina; Christian Alexander, 21, of Medina; and Cerena Osborne, 21, of Lafayette Township.

Turner and Claycomb are accused of telling police Sims wasn’t at the apartment when they answered the door. Perry, Alexander and Osborne are accused of lying about Sims’ whereabouts during a traffic stop shortly after leaving the apartment.

“They were seen leaving the apartment and entering a vehicle. When it was stopped, they lied to officers about whether or not Sims was in the apartment,” Berarducci said. “That’s the obstruction.”

The obstruction charges are second-degree misdemeanors. They could be lifted to fifth-degree felonies, according to Ohio law, if prosecutors choose to pursue more serious charges.

Other charges against those involved include drug paraphernalia possession and drug abuse.

Turner also could face a probation violation in a recent felony case. Last month, Turner was placed on three years of probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge of retaliation.

Officer Mark Luciano with his K-9 partner, Blackjack. PHOTO PROVIDED

Police K-9 Blackjack, a German shepherd that served the Brunswick Police Department for eight years, died recently after a long battle with numerous health issues, the department said in a post on Facebook.

Blackjack passed his certification exam May 19, 2005. He was on the K-9 unit until his retirement on April 12, 2013.

He served a dual role with the department in narcotics detection as well as suspect tracking/apprehension. He also was used in contraband searches, building searches and scene security.

The department said Blackjack excelled at public appearances for groups such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, community organizations, schools and churches.

After his retirement, Blackjack lived with his handler, Officer Mark Luciano, and his family. Blackjack was 11 years old when he died.

Luciano said Blackjack will be missed.

A recent Medina High School graduate was arrested Tuesday evening after police heard two gunshots near an Army recruitment center in Medina.

Matthew L. Brown

Matthew L. Brown, 18, of Longview Road, was arrested and charged with vandalism, a fifth-degree felony.

He’s accused of shooting a .38-caliber handgun at a federal government vehicle that was parked at the Armed Forces Recruitment Center, 907 N. Court St.

The incident occurred at 10:17 p.m., police Sgt. Scott Marcum said. Two officers in the area of the recruitment center heard gunshots. They located Brown in the 800 block of Walter Road, behind the recruitment center, and approached him near his home on Longview Road.

Marcum said that’s when Brown fled on foot over fences on private properties and through Nottingham Court apartments, located just south of that area.

Police arrested Brown on North Huntington Street, just west of the apartment complex.

Brown gave a false name to police after his arrest, according to reports, but a portable fingerprint scanner revealed Brown’s identity. He was transported to the county jail that evening.

Marcum said police have not yet recovered the gun suspected in the car shooting.

“We’ve been out there several times with different groups of officers, and it’s still not been recovered,” he said. “If anyone sees it out there, please call police (at (330) 725-7777).”

He said it’s unclear why Brown may have shot the government vehicle.

“We’re still looking into why it happened,” he said. “That’s something we don’t know right now.”

Marcum said additional charges may be pending against Brown.