Medina County Sheriff Tom Miller officially welcomed two new officers Monday.

Apollo, a 17-month old German shepherd, and Rocky, a 19-month old German shepherd mix, arrived in the department from Eastern Europe.

ASHLEY FOX / GAZETTE Kendall Kohler, 10, plays tug-o-war with 17 month-old Apollo. Kendall’s father, Deputy Dan Kohler, has had Apollo for three weeks. Apollo, a reserved pup, likes to eat Kendall’s stuffed animals but also keeps a watchful eye over Kendall.

Apollo, a little more reserved, lives with Deputy Dan Kohler.

“Apollo eats my stuffed animals,” said Kohler’s daughter, 10-year-old Kendall. Apollo jumps into Kendall’s bed at night, keeping a watchful eye over her as she sleeps.

Apollo is Kohler’s fourth K-9 partner. Hosting a canine deputy was something Kohler said he had wanted since he first joined the force.

Rocky lives with Deputy Dave King and his family, which includes four children.

King’s wife, Amanda, noted Rocky has a more high-energy disposition than Apollo. “(Kohler’s) dog is more relaxed,” Amanda King said.

Although playful and sometimes rowdy, King’s K-9 partner has helped in nine felony arrests in just three weeks.

Looking ahead, King and Rocky will begin working with the Medina County Drug Task Force, something King said he has wanted to do.

“My dad would come home with stories and I would think, ‘I want to do that,’” he said. King’s dad was a police officer.

King noted he and Kohler take their K-9 partners to “schools and nursing homes, so they are well adjusted.”

Once King moves to the drug task force assignment, an additional officer will be hired in the sheriff’s office.

The staff changes are part of an effort to help fight the spread of heroin in Medina County. In Ohio, drug authorities have said 87 of the state’s 88 counties have a heroin and opiate addiction problem.

The sheriff’s office raised $30,000 for both the dogs and training for officers, which took six weeks to complete. The deputies were allowed to pick out their dogs personally. The dogs are trained to detect narcotics and to attack, if necessary.

ELYRIA — A Liverpool Township man is facing involuntary manslaughter and other charges stemming from a fatal overdose at a North Ridgeville hotel earlier this year.

Kevin Dentz, 34, also is charged with corrupting another with drugs and two counts of trafficking in drugs.

Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will said after the victim overdosed on a combination of heroin and fentanyl, a powerful painkiller that has led to numerous fatal overdoses in the county and elsewhere, North Ridgeville police were able to link the drugs to Dentz through electronic communications the two men exchanged.

He said other evidence also linked Dentz to the sale of the drugs.

Dentz, who is being held at the Lorain County Jail, is set to be arraigned later this week.

A Lodi man who started a fire at his mother’s home was found guilty after a three-day jury trial, which a defense attorney described as “a battle of the experts.”

Matthew J. Harris, 49, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of aggravated arson, first-degree felonies.

Matthew Harris

He faces a maximum of  11 years in prison when he is sentenced June 6, according to the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office.

Friday’s guilty verdict also means Harris will have to register his address on the state of Ohio’s Arson Registry.

Harris’ defense attorney David Sheldon said the 12-person jury listened to testimony from two doctors, one from the state and one from the defense, among other witnesses, disputing the defendant’s mental health and cause of mental health issues around the time of the fire in February 2015.

“The jury found he had a severe mental disease at the time of the fire, but he was aware of the wrongfulness of his actions,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon said he disagrees with the jury’s decision that Harris knew his actions were wrongful, but hopes Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier will take into consideration during sentencing the jury’s opinion that Harris had a “severe mental disease” when the fire was started.

County Prosecutor Dean Holman said he was pleased with the outcome of the case, which was prosecuted by county Assistant Prosecutor Scott Salisbury.

“There were complicated issues to go through,” Holman said. “We’re appreciative of the jury’s work in this case.”

Sheldon said Harris has been institutionalized 11 times since he turned 19 for as long as seven months at a time.

Harris has a prior criminal record in Medina County Common Pleas Court that includes theft, breaking and entering, obstructing official business and felonious assault dating to at least 1993.

Harris was living at his wheelchair-bound mother’s house on Bank Street when he ignited newspapers in several rooms on Feb. 21, 2015, according to the prosecutor’s office.

His 76-year-old mother Barbara Harris was found on the first floor of the home and carried out of the home, which was filling with black smoke, by police and firefighters. She later told police that her son had been having suicidal thoughts.

Harris was found upstairs semiconscious and covered in black soot, according to Sheldon and police.

Sheldon said he was told by law enforcement that they were both minutes away from dying of smoke inhalation when they were taken out of the house.

Holman said the fire not only put the mother and son at risk, but also neighbors and law enforcement.

“The crime is aggravated arson and arson presents danger to the inhabitants, neighbors and firefighters. We have to take a serious stance on these issues,” he said.

Barbara Harris has since died, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Harris is being held at Medina County Jail.

Three people are in the Medina County Jail following a high-speed chase involving a van Tuesday.

The individuals are being held on probable charges, county Drug Task Force Director Gary Hubbard said late Tuesday. Charges are expected to be filed this morning, he said.

The incident began when drug task force agents saw what they thought was suspicious activity at state Route 18 and Interstate 71.

The agents enlisted the help of a Medina County Sheriff’s deputy — who was assigned to the task force for his first day Tuesday — and attempted to make a traffic stop.

The driver of a van fled, which led to the chase.

Police radio reports said the chase reached speeds of more than 100 mph.

The chase covered I-71, state Route 3, state Route 94, Interstate 271 and Interstate 76.

Just west of Route 3 near I-76, a Montville Township policeman dropped a spike strip, which deflated a tire on the van.

Two of the van’s occupants fled on foot and were apprehended. The driver of the van was caught walking in the area.

Hubbard said he could not comment on reports of items being thrown out of the van during the chase.

Hubbard said he met Tuesday with county Sheriff Tom Miller to discuss the case.

Three people were charged with felonies Wednesday in the aftermath of a police chase Tuesday, according to the Medina County Drug Task Force.

Tavaurus Huntley

Tavaurus Huntley, 25, of Dania Beach, Fla., was charged with a felony count of failure to comply after fleeing from officers. Meagan Smith, 18, of Baltimore, and Bryan Jordan, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., each was charged with a felony count of tampering with evidence, the task force said in a news release.

All three remained Wednesday at the Medina County Jail.

The three were apprehended Tuesday by task force agents and county sheriff’s Deputy Dave King.

King attempted to stop the van that Huntley, Smith and Jordan were traveling in on state Route 18 in Sharon Township, but it sped off. That led to a police chase throughout Medina County.

Meagan Smith

The suspects were throwing items out of the van. These items consisted of several purses and credit cards that were stolen from throughout the area, according to the task force.

The news release said the three are suspects in a rash of thefts from vehicles from Medina and Cuyahoga counties, and possibly other areas.

Troopers from the Medina post of the Ohio Highway Patrol, deputies from the sheriff’s office and officers from the Montville Township, Medina Township and Seville police departments aided in the apprehension of the suspects.

Homeland Security and task force agents are working with detectives from the sheriff’s office to identify additional victims of the numerous thefts likely involved.

On Tuesday, task force and Homeland Security agents located a suspicious vehicle while conducting surveillance in the area of state Route 18 and Interstate 71 in Medina Township. They contacted King and his K-9 partner, Rocky, who were on their first day of assignment with the drug task force, to make a traffic stop, the news release said.

The pursuit covered I-71, state Route 3, state Route 94, Interstate 271 and Interstate 76. A Montville policeman dropped a spike strip near the intersection of I-76 and Route 3. That deflated one tire of the van. The suspects turned north on Route 3 and eventually came to a stop near Kennard Road.

Two of the occupants fled on foot and were apprehended after a brief foot pursuit. The driver of the van was found walking in the area.

A Medina woman and a Holmes County man are facing charges for an alleged delay in obtaining medical attention for a man who overdosed in her home last January.

Heather Hobbie

Heather Hobbie, 34, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Medina Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; reckless homicide, a third degree felony; and permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony. If convicted, she could serve up to 12 years in prison.

According to Medina  police Sgt. Brett McNabb, 31-year-old Timothy Nelson of Medina overdosed on a combination of heroin and fentanyl in Hobbie’s South Harmony Street home Jan. 20.

Hobbie and another man visiting the home, Jacob Aune, delayed calling 911 or seeking medical help, police said.

Hobbie and Aune transported Nelson to Medina Hospital, after what McNabb said was likely a 15- to 20-minute delay. Nelson — the father of one son, according to his obituary — died the same day. McNabb said that delay may have cost Nelson his life.

“They clearly had the opportunity to help him, but he died,” McNabb said after the hearing.

Jacob Aune

“They just didn’t do the right thing in this case.”

McNabb said Hobbie was aware of the Narcan because police had used the heroin antidote during a previous call to her home for a suspected overdose.

“There had been at least one prior opiate-related overdose at this house,” he said.

McNabb said a lengthy investigation followed Nelson’s death, and Hobbie and Aune were arrested April 27.

“This case is another example of the danger heroin presents to people,” Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman said after the hearing.

Medina court records show Hobbie has previously been convicted on drug and alcohol charges.

Defense attorney David Sheldon, who is representing Hobbie, asked Judge Joyce V. Kimbler to delay discussion on her bond, which is set at $100,000.

Aune, 33, of Big Prairie in Holmes County, faces the same charges and has the same bond as Hobbie, but was not arraigned in court Thursday.

He has no criminal record in Medina Common Pleas Court, but he has convictions for misdemeanor drug abuse and paraphernalia in Medina Municipal Court from January.

Hobbie and Aune are currently being held in Medina County Jail.

A 62-year-old Medina woman, who was accused of stabbing her husband in the chest following an argument in their Beechwood Drive home last December, was found not competent to stand trial Thursday.

Diana Gerspacher

Diana Gerspacher was charged with two counts of felonious assault after police said she stabbed her 67-year-old husband, David Gerspacher.

A doctor hired by the defense and a doctor hired by the prosecutor both concluded Gerspacher was not competent, attorneys told Judge Joyce V. Kimbler in Medina County Common Pleas Court Thursday afternoon.

“Each of those reports (agree) that Ms. Gerspacher is not competent to stand for trial,” Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Razavi said.

The defense attorney’s doctor report found Gerspacher was not sane during the Dec. 20 stabbing.

The doctor commissioned by the prosecution said Gerspacher is not competent to stand trial but did not include an opinion on her condition at the time of the stabbing. Kimbler agreed Gerspacher should be transferred from Medina County Jail, where she is being held on a $500,000 bond, to Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon.

Kimbler said Heartland Behavioral Healthcare has six months to attempt to “restore” Gerspacher to competency. If she is declared competent, she could stand trial.

Her husband was released from MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland about a week after the stabbing.

A 20-year-old Medina resident who is accused of pointing a gun at a man in his house pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in Medina County Common Pleas Court on Thursday.

Tyler Cribbs

Tyler Cribbs was indicted on felonious assault, a first-degree felony, and abduction, a third-degree felony, with a firearm specification. If convicted, he could face up to 14 years in prison.

Police arrived at Cribbs’ home in the 900 block of Coventry Court about 1 a.m. April 11 after a caller said Cribbs pointed a gun at her boyfriend and threatened to shoot.

Medina Sgt. Brett McNabb said Cribbs was initially charged with aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor, and released.

But when police and prosecutors reviewed the case, they decided to bring felony charges to a county grand jury.

Cribbs turned himself over to law enforcement Monday according to defense attorney David McArtor.

Cribbs was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and misdemeanor drug abuse in Medina Municipal Court, but Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Michael McNamara said in court that he also has six convictions in his juvenile record.

Cribbs is being held in Medina County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

A 33-year-old man faces up to 12 years in prison after allegedly delaying efforts to seek help for an overdosing Medina man.

Jacob Aune

Jacob Aune was arraigned on charges of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; reckless homicide, a third-degree felony; and permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony, Monday in Medina County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to police, Aune was present when 31-year-old Timothy Nelson overdosed in a South Harmony Street home Jan. 20. Police said Aune and the woman who lives in the home, Heather Hobbie, delayed calling 911 or seeking medical help.

The two drove Nelson to Medina Hospital after a delay, which Medina police Sgt. Brett McNabb said was likely 15 to 20 minutes. Nelson died later the same day.

Following an investigation, Aune and Hobbie were arrested April 27.

Hobbie pleaded not guilty to the same charges in Judge Joyce V. Kimbler’s court Thursday.

Aune listed Hobbie’s Medina address as his own in court Monday, but he formerly lived in Big Prairie in Holmes County, according to Medina Municipal Court records.

He has no criminal record in Medina Common Pleas Court, but he has convictions for misdemeanor drug abuse and paraphernalia in Medina Municipal Court from January.

Aune is being held on a $100,000 bond in Medina County Jail. His pre-trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 7 and his trial is set for 1 p.m. July 11.

A registered sex offender who was released on bond on a felony charge was sentenced to two years in prison Monday after he exposed himself in a Brunswick McDonald’s drive-thru.

ELIZABETH DOBBINS / GAZETTE
Terry Lovejoy, accused of failing to register his new address, sits next to defense attorney Angelina Gingo in Medina Common Pleas Court Monday.

Terry Lovejoy, 23, pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony, failing to register a  notice of change of address. Lovejoy is required to register his address because of a rape conviction when he was a teen, according to the indictment.

Defense attorney Angelina Gingo said in Medina County Common Pleas Court that the prosecutor previously agreed to ask Judge Christopher J. Collier to sentence Lovejoy to probation instead of prison.

But on Monday a special prosecutor from the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office asked for a more severe sentence in light of Lovejoy’s conviction on two counts of public indecency while he was out on a $20,000 bond.

Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman said the special prosecutor was brought in because Lovejoy’s mother was a former Medina County employee.

Brunswick Community Policing Coordinator Nick Solar said Lovejoy was arrested several days after police received reports of a man exposing himself to female employees at a McDonald’s drive-thru at 3115 Center Road on April 2 and 3.

“I shouldn’t have been doing that to begin with, but I did do it and I take responsibility,” Lovejoy said.

When Collier asked Lovejoy to explain his actions, Lovejoy said he meant to prank a male friend who works at McDonald’s.

“I heard him at the intercom so I thought he would be at the drive-thru window,” Lovejoy said.

Collier questioned why Lovejoy exposed himself a second time if his friend wasn’t at the window the first time.

“It looks as if you’re trying to expose yourself to these women,” Collier said.

Lovejoy was found guilty of public indecency in Medina Municipal Court last Friday and sentenced to 32 days in jail with credit for 28 days served.

Collier said his previous record included charges of disorderly conduct, aggravated menacing, assault on a justice officer and domestic violence.

Solar said Lovejoy was listed on the Brunswick police report as living in either Liverpool Township or Elyria.

Keith Trojack insists if it wasn’t for Medina police Chief Patrick Berarducci, he wouldn’t be alive today.

The Medina resident went into cardiac arrest March 23 at his Guilford Boulevard home.

Keith Trojack

“My heart stopped,” he said. “I wasn’t breathing. I had no pulse.”

His son, Darren, started giving him cardiopulmonary resuscitation. That’s when the man affectionately known as “Bear” burst through his front door.

Berarducci was returning from the Montville Township Police Department and was on Wadsworth Road when he heard the call.

He was the initial first responder on the scene.

“When I first got there (at about 9:30 a.m.), Mr. Trojack was on the floor unresponsive,” the chief said. “His head was bent like he had broken his neck when he fell. His son, Darren, was trying to give him CPR. I went in and took over.

“I started pounding as hard as I could.”

Patrick Berarducci

The 54-year-old Trojack said everything that happened that morning is a blur.

“I’m repeating what I’ve been told,” he said. “I really don’t remember.”

He said he does know one thing: Berarducci saved his life.

“Absolutely,” Trojack said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. If the chief hadn’t been there and taken over for my son efficiently and the right way, I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now.”

The chief said two firefighters and a Life Support Team arrived about three or four minutes later.

“Within 10 minutes, the whole crew was working on him,” Berarducci said. “My role was to get out of the way and hold the IV bag.”

He said the entire police department is trained in CPR, automated external defibrillators and combat life safety, which is used during traumatic bleeding events.

That training might have saved Trojack’s life.

“I’m fighting the good fight,” said Trojack, who is not out of danger medically.

“He has severe heart damage,” said his wife, Debbie Trojack. “His heart isn’t pumping efficiently. Normal people’s hearts pump at 60 to 70 percent. His is functioning at less than 35 percent.

“They had to put in a permanent defibrillator that has wires that go to his heart. It will detect any irregular impulses. It will internally shock him to keep him from arresting again. He has a long road ahead.”

Debbie Trojack said her husband was shocked between four and six times that day.

“They lost him twice more in the EMS rig (on the way to Medina Hospital) before they life-flighted him to the Cleveland Clinic,” she said. “In the emergency room, they didn’t have a pulse again. They had to shock him again.

“He should not be here.”

Trojack said he spent six days in the cardiac intensive care unit and four more days in a regular room.

“If one more person tells me I’m a medical miracle, I’m going to smack him,” he joked.

Berarducci said he appreciates Trojack’s kind words.

“It wasn’t just me,” he said. “You do this job to help people. There are plenty of times when you don’t have such a good outcome. When you do and you restore a father to his family, it’s a special moment. I’ll remember it for my whole career. I drive by his house every night and think, ‘Is he still there? Is he OK?’ It’s a good feeling.

“Every day you can give someone is a blessing. Our theory is: Get them in the hands of the Cleveland Clinic, and you’ve tipped the scales in your behalf.”

When he went into cardiac arrest March 23, Trojack already was recovering from a massive heart attack he had while driving on Interstate 76 two weeks earlier.

“His main artery to his heart was 100 percent blocked,” Debbie Trojack said of that heart attack. “He lost the feeling on the entire left side of his body. He had the good sense to get off the road and flag down a Wadsworth police officer.”

Trojack was taken to Akron General Hospital.

“The cardiac doctor was there waiting for him,” Debbie Trojack said. “They did the catherization. He was able to get the artery open and placed a stent and resumed the blood flow within 31 minutes.

“He shouldn’t have lived through that, much less the arrest two weeks later.”

Trojack said he’s a little embarrassed to heap praise on the chief.

“I’ve been rough on him,” he said. “We had disagreements about ordinances with parking and speed limits. He’s a class act.”

Trojack stood before Medina City Council on Monday and praised Berarducci for saving his life.

Berarducci said he remembers clashing with Trojack over a parking ban on Guilford.

“Mr. Trojack had been parking vehicles in front of his home,” he said. “His whole family lives with him. It fell on us to enforce it. He came to City Council and was upset. It was the right thing for the city to do. I hadn’t seen him since then.”

A benefit to help defray Trojack’s medical bills will be noon to 9 p.m. May 21 at the Medina Moose facility, 136 S. Elmwood Ave.

The Montville Township and Medina Township police departments have been certified as meeting new standards of practice by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board.

They join Medina Police Department and the Medina County Sheriff’s Office as other law enforcement agencies in the county to have adopted and implemented the new standards.

The board was formed last year to define practices such as the use of force, including deadly force, and also improve community and police relations.

The standards were developed by a 12-member group in  August after officers shot Tamir Rice in Cleveland and John Crawford III in Dayton.

The state said it has partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to help certify Ohio’s nearly 1,000 law enforcement agencies. According to its website, there are 10 law enforcement agencies certified statewide in addition to the Medina County ones.

Certifications are to continue throughout 2016 and a list of all Ohio compliant agencies will be published in March 2017, state officials said. Information on the group, the process and the list of agencies is online.

Separately, Gov. John Kasich announced that Medina County Sheriff Tom Miller of Brunswick, Franklin County Prosecutor Ronald J. O’Brien of Columbus and Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John T. Born of Lancaster have been reappointed to the board for terms that began Tuesday and will end April 29, 2019.

A man accused of manufacturing methamphetamine contested his indictment in Medina County Common Pleas Court on Thursday.

ELIZABETH DOBBINS / GAZETTE
Jason Cubic, accused of manufacturing meth, appeared on video in court Thursday next to stand-in defense attorney Michael Callow.

Jason Cubic, seeking to represent himself, argued his indictment did not include probable cause, which he said violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.

The 36-year-old Brunswick man is facing one first-degree felony, manufacturing drugs; one second-degree felony, illegal assembly or possession of chemicals; one third-degree felony, endangering children, and one fifth-degree felony, aggravated possession of drugs.

“I have been knowingly and grossly violated by the state,” Cubic said. “This doesn’t have any constitutional muster.”

Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Razavi refuted the accusations.

“The grand jury made the probable cause determination,” Razavi said.

Cubic made similar comments during four appeals he filed in a previous case, according to court documents.

In one letter to the court, he cited a “gross miscarriage of justice” and a violation of his rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and 14th amendments. All of the appeals were dismissed.

In court Thursday, Cubic asked to represent himself, but Judge Joyce V. Kimbler said the court should appoint a defense lawyer because of the severity of the charges. Razavi added that Cubic may eventually be found able to represent himself, but that determination would take longer than the day’s scheduled arraignment.

Kimbler appointed Erik Jones as his attorney and delayed his arraignment until next week. Jones was not present at the arraignment, so defense attorney Michael Callow acted as a stand-in.

Cubic faces the charges following a March 16 raid on his Rocklyn Drive home. The raid was conducted by a multi-jurisdictional drug task force on the request of the Adult Parole Authority, which was monitoring Cubic for the previous meth conviction.

The task force reportedly found several items in the home related to the manufacture of meth including what they said were several unusual meth-cooking devices.

Cubic is being held in Medina County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

A former Wadsworth pharmacy worker was sentenced to three years of probation Thursday for stealing pills.

Kristina Barnes, 35, of Wadsworth, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony, and four counts of theft of drugs, all fourth-degree felonies.

If she violates probation, she could spend 18 months in prison.

“I made a huge, huge mistake in judgment at work,” Barnes told Judge Joyce V. Kimbler in Medina Common Pleas Court Thursday.

She took oxycodone and hydrocodone, both opiates, while employed at the Rite Aid in Wadsworth last November.

“She was eventually confronted by the pharmacist,” defense attorney Michael Callow said.

Callow said Barnes has struggled with opiate addiction. Barnes told Kimbler: “I know that it’s going to be a long road. It’s going to be a lifetime.”

While she was released on a $20,000 bond, Barnes failed a drug test.

Callow requested the probation sentence, which Medina County Assistant Prosecutor Matt Razavi did not oppose.

During sentencing, Kimbler, who said Barnes has no prior felony convictions, also told Barnes to pay Rite Aid more than $350 in restitution.

A Medina attorney said his client, who is accused of brandishing a handgun, was threatened during an altercation with another parent in the Medina High School parking lot last week.

Mitchell Lambert

Mitchell J. Lambert, 44, of Medina pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first-degree misdemeanor charges of inducing panic and aggravated menacing in Medina Municipal Court.

David L. McArtor told The Gazette that there’s “no question” Lambert felt threatened while sitting in his car. No charges have been filed against the other person, who has not been identified.

The school campus was placed on a brief lockdown after the incident that occurred at about 2:35 p.m. May 6.

“The self-defense component will be a big part of this case,” said McArtor, adding that Lambert is a disabled Army veteran.

Lambert holds a concealed carry permit from the state of Virginia.

The attorney said it is his understanding that the permit is recognized in Ohio.

Federal law prohibits firearms to be brought onto school grounds, but questions have arisen if they might be allowed when kept inside a vehicle.

McArtor wouldn’t comment on details about Lambert’s disability, his family, or how many children attend the school and whether they were in the car during the alleged incident.

McArtor said he’ll seek a jury trial for Lambert, who will next be in court June 17. Lambert, of the 1100 block of Kempton Oval, spent two days in Medina County Jail before being released on bond Sunday.

Halee Heironimus | The Gazette

The Medina Township Police Department was awarded $30,000 as part of a program of state community-police relations grants.

The grant, announced Monday, is provided by the state’s Office of Criminal Justice Services to assist law enforcement agencies in improving community relationships.

Police departments statewide are working on a certification procedure through the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board. The board developed standards for, among other policies, the use of deadly force in law enforcement work.

Medina Township police will look to increase patrols and work on personal contact with residents in the area of crime prevention for residences and businesses.

David Arbogast

Police Chief Dave Arbogast told The Gazette on Monday that the township has identified a target zone, known as “The 18 Corridor,” which runs from Foote Road to Granger Road along state Route 18.

Arbogast pointed out a relationship between burglary rates and drug use in that area.

“When I looked at the statistics, our burglary rates went up in that area by 36 percent and our drug rates went up 27 percent,” Arbogast said. “There’s a relationship there.”

The statistics were compared with rates from a year ago, he said. In 2015, thefts in the area also increased by 11 percent.

Officials will focus on drug enforcement and drug courts, including juvenile court, he said.

In the application for the grant, Arbogast wrote: “We can truly ‘reach out and touch someone’ in the true spirit of community policing. By knowing our residents personally in order to address this community problem, we feel strongly that this program will meet and exceed our expectations.”

The township grant was among 20 awards statewide totaling about $400,000. The Medina County Sheriff’s Office and Medina Community Police Activities League each also was awarded a $30,000 grant. Representatives of those departments could not be reached for comment Monday.

Hinckley Township will soon welcome a new fire chief — Mel Morgan, a captain at Parma Fire Department.

Township trustees appointed Morgan at a Monday night meeting, according to Trustee Martha Catherwood.

Morgan, a 54-year-old Broadview Heights resident, has served in the Parma Fire Department for 33 years, about 20 of which as a captain. And he’s not ready to give up his Parma position just yet.

Morgan said he plans to work full time in Parma, while also serving as the chief in Hinckley. The Hinckley position, which pays $35,000 a year, is part-time and requires a minimum of 25 hours per week.

Catherwood said Morgan was selected from a pool of 18 applicants. The chief position in the Hinckley Fire Department was left vacant after former Fire Chief Tim Potts resigned March 29 after 41⁄2 years in the position.

In the absence of a chief, the department’s six lieutenants took on day-to-day duties and Catherwood coordinated with contractors to finish the new fire department building on 1616 Ridge Road.

Catherwood said Morgan’s experience and qualifications made him the best choice.

“We had many qualified applicants,” she said. “He interviewed very well.”

He will be sworn into the 34-person paid volunteer department May 31 and start the position the next day.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” he said.

ASHLEY FOX / GAZETTE
School officials and law enforcement officials direct traffic and investigate an accident Monday afternoon at the intersection of Vandemark Road and route 224 in Lodi, involving a school bus and two cars. No major injuries were reported.

A Cloverleaf school bus was involved in an accident with two vehicles at about 1 p.m. Monday at Vandemark Road and U.S. Route 224 in Harrisville Township.

Officials said no “apparent serious” injuries were reported.

ASHLEY FOX / GAZETTE
An accident at Vandemark and route 224 in Lodi occurred Monday afternoon. Among those involved were three children from the Cloverleaf Local School District who were being transported to afternoon Kindergarten classes. No major injuries were reported.

The bus was “in the process of transporting students to school” for afternoon kindergarten, Cloverleaf Superintendent Daryl Kubilus said when reached by phone after the accident. There were three students and the driver on the bus, he said.

Kubilus said the students were checked and went to school for the afternoon.

A family friend of one of the drivers involved in the crash said at the scene the driver asked officials immediately if the children were all right.

Lodi police and the Ohio Highway Patrol responded to the accident, which an official said is under investigation.

Further information was not available Monday.

Members of the Medina Police Department wore black arm bands Monday to honor the late Tom DeLeone.

DeLeone, 65, died Sunday at his home in Park City, Utah, of brain cancer. He played 13 seasons in the NFL from 1972 to 1984, the last nine with the Browns.

He was hired as an auxiliary officer with the Medina police in 1982, Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said. DeLeone, who attended Kent Roosevelt High School and Ohio State University, lived in Montville Township.

He became friends with Medina Police Chief Pat Berarducci while on the force.

“Tom had said his goal when he retired (from the NFL) was that he wanted to be a police officer,” Berarducci said. “He started with Medina doing volunteer hours. We became friends. He said I was the only friend he had who didn’t care if we talked about football.

“We’re wearing a black armband today to remember him. We showed him the path to becoming a federal agent. He worked with the IRS and the Customs Department.”

DeLeone worked as a criminal investigator with the U.S. Department of Treasury. He later became a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service and was a member of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“His wife, Mindy, was a skier and they moved (to Utah) when he finished his career,” Berarducci said.

Hanwell, who was hired on the Medina police force in 1983, said he was fond of the former Browns center.

“He was very committed to public service,” Hanwell said. “We’d see him frequently riding with officers on the evening shifts.”

DeLeone was undersized at an NFL lineman at 6-foot-2, 248 pounds.

“At the time, he wasn’t massive,” Hanwell said. “He still looked big to us. He was quick off the ball, quick to react. To guys that are 5-8 or 5-9, he looked large. He had a great career for the Browns.”

Hanwell said DeLeone battled cancer for a number of years.

“I’d seen him periodically when he’d come for a visit,” he said. “I was saddened to hear when he was first diagnosed with cancer.”

Hanwell was police chief from 1996 to 2009. He was succeeded as chief in August 2009 by Berarducci.

Brunswick Police Chief Carl DeForest released a statement Monday afternoon on Facebook in support of a sergeant’s actions with a city resident during an investigation of a neighborhood theft.

Carl DeForest

DeForest’s statement came in response to a video posted Friday on YouTube by a Brunswick resident.

Two different videos were posted on YouTube by a user who goes by Ginger Mama. One is a three-minute video of a discussion between Sgt. Jon Page and the woman. Another is a nine-minute video that shows edited footage of the conversation.

The film shows interaction between the woman and Page along with photographs of her, her car, her children and her house. The second video contains voice-over commentary describing her account of the interaction with Page.

The Gazette was unable to determine the woman’s identity and DeForest could not be reached Monday to elaborate on his statement.

In his one-page statement, DeForest’s said Page was responding to a theft report that had been filed concerning a lawnmower.

The statement said that while “checking the area for the stolen lawn mower, a witness or evidence that may be of value in the investigation, Sergeant Page drove by a residence where the front door was wide open and a vehicle in the driveway with the doors open.” The time of day was not referenced.

After driving past the residence “twice in a 3-4 minute time frame while looking for leads on the theft, … he (Page) noticed a head in the vehicle” and “found several children inside the vehicle with the engine running.”

According to the woman in the nine-minute video, she was gathering last-minute items before a trip to the zoo and saw a police officer walking across her lawn. She noted that “there’s always a sense of panic” and immediately thought “what did I do wrong?” as he approached her house.

As of late Monday afternoon, the three-minute video had more than 2,900 views and 50 comments and the nine-minute video had more than 1,065 views and 42 comments.

At 1:08 in the three-minute video, Page tells the woman: “Ma’am, I’m not telling you you’re in trouble or you’re facing a crime. I’m just telling you it appeared suspicious so I checked on it.”

Page repeatedly told the woman she was not in trouble, that he was conducting a welfare check and wanted identification to prove that the “kids were all right” and “the vehicle is OK.”

The woman repeatedly told Page she was grabbing snacks for a day at the Rainforest at the Cleveland Zoo.

The shorter video cuts off just as she gives the officer her name as Page writes down the information. The longer video also does not identify the woman by name.

DeForest’s statement said Page was at the residence “for a legitimate law enforcement purpose” and the interaction between Page and the woman would have lasted “perhaps 1-2 minutes” if an identification and explanation had been provided.