Wally Woods

LaReece KeSean “Wally” Woods, the Orrville man accused of murdering his estranged wife, is expected to accept a plea bargain in the case at 9 a.m. Monday in Wayne County Common Pleas Court.

Wayne County Prosecutor Dan Lutz announced the agreement during a pretrial hearing Wednesday.

Woods, who turned 23 on Monday, is expected to plead guilty to one count of murder, with a gun specification, two counts of child endangering, one count of sexual battery and one count of assault on a police officer.

He would serve a term of 25 1/2 years to life in prison in the plea agreement. Orrville police said he confessed to the murder of Emily A. Young on Jan. 7. The couple’s twin daughters were in the backseat of the SUV and a 17-year-old girl was in the front seat at the time of the shooting.

Emily Young

The following is a breakdown of the expected sentence:

• 15 years to life for the murder charge;
• Three years for the gun specification (a 9 mm handgun);
• Six months for each of the two child endangering counts;
• Five years for the sexual battery count, a third-degree felony;
• 1 1/2 years for the assault on a peace officer, a fourth-degree felony.

A jury trial for the murder charge was scheduled to begin Monday.

Woods’ charges didn’t qualify for the death penalty, Lutz said. He said the prosecution couldn’t find sufficient evidence of “prior calculation and design” to indict on an aggravated murder charge, which under certain circumstances can be death-penalty eligible.

The sexual battery stemmed from a 2015 sexual assault case involving a 20-year-old Wooster woman.

Woods was reportedly agitated after meeting with his lawyer in April and was being taken to isolation. He then allegedly bit two Wayne County Corrections officers, which led to the assault charges. Soon after the incident, he hired Akron attorney Adam VanHo.

In the plea agreement, five other charges would be dropped against Woods.

Woods remains in Wayne County Jail on $1 million bond.

Young, 24, was a 2009 Black River High School graduate who also attended the Medina County Career Center. She was survived by three young daughters who are being raised by her parents, Jim and Debbie Young, of Spencer.

A Medina County judge ordered a 3 year prison sentence for Eric Warfel — a 34-year-old Medina man convicted of leaving the body of his 20-month-old daughter in her crib for more than a month after her death.

Eric Warfel

Warfel was sentenced on one count of tampering with evidence, a third degree felony, and two counts of cocaine possession, both fifth degree felonies. During sentencing, the tampering with evidence charge was merged with a fifth degree felony, gross abuse of a corpse.

He also received time on three counts of endangering children, all first degree misdemeanors.

Before sentencing Friday morning, Warfel told the court he didn’t report the death of his daughter, Ember Warfel, because he didn’t want to see the look on his then-7-year-old daughter’s face when she found out her younger sister had died.

“I didn’t want (the older daughter) to grow up fearing death or hating God,” he said.

Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier described the 34-year-old Warfel as showing “no genuine remorse” for leaving his daughter to decompose in her crib at his unit at Forest Meadows apartments. Her body was discovered July 29 of last year by a cable technician and Warfel was arrested in Westlake the same day.

Collier found Warfel guilty on all counts June 8 after several days of testimony presented during a bench trial.

The sentence is less than the amount suggested by Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman, who asked the judge for a 5 year sentence Friday morning. Warfel could have faced up to six years in prison on the charges.

Warfel received 166 days of credit for time already served in jail.

Eric Warfel was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for leaving the body of his 20-month-old child in his apartment more than a month after her death.

The 34-year-old Medina resident said concern for his then-7-year-old daughter and memories of another daughter who died in her sleep three years ago had influenced his decision to hide the death of his youngest child, Ember Warfel, last summer.

ELIZABETH DOBBINS / GAZETTE
Eric Warfel, left, describes his decision to leave the body of his daughter in a crib for over a month. Defense attorney Michael O’Shea sits to his right.

“The person I didn’t want to tell about Ember the most was (the older daughter), because I remember her face when we were going to the cemetery to bury Erin,” Warfel said in Medina County Common Pleas Court before the sentence was pronounced. “I don’t ever want to see that face ever again. I don’t want (the older daughter) to grow up fearing death or hating God.” Five-month-old Erin Warfel died in her sleep in 2013.

Judge Christopher J. Collier told Warfel his decision negatively affected not only the then-7-year-old daughter, but also Warfel’s family and the members of law enforcement who investigated the case.

“Your concealment harmed just about everyone you claimed you didn’t want to harm,” Collier said.

Warfel was sentenced on one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, and two counts of cocaine possession, both fifth-degree felonies. During sentencing, the tampering with evidence charge was merged with a fifth-degree felony, gross abuse of a corpse.

He was also sentenced on three counts of endangering children, all first-degree misdemeanors.

Collier said the circumstances of one of the child-endangering counts helped to “crystallize” the case for him.

According to testimonies, a neighbor found Warfel’s then-7-year-old daughter looking for her father in the halls of the Forest Meadows apartment complex where the family lived.

ELIZABETH DOBBINS / GAZETTE
Defense attorney Michael O’Shea and Eric Warfel stand after sentencing Friday morning.

“She’s crying so loudly that a man comes and comforts her. She says, ‘I tried to wake up my sister and she wouldn’t get up,’ ” Collier said. “What she saw and she has to deal with now as a result of your actions for the rest of her life can only be imagined.”

The incident occurred at about 11 p.m. on June 18, 2015 — the day before Warfel said he discovered Ember dead in her crib. The body was first reported to police July 29 when an Armstrong Cable technician entered the apartment for an installation.

Warfel said he was also reluctant to report the death of Ember because he was concerned he would lose custody of his older child, which he had won earlier in 2015.

“My apartment was a disaster and I knew that as soon as officials came in to take photographs of my apartment — like they did when we called 911 over Erin — that I would lose (the older daughter),” he said. “Days turned into weeks.”

According to testimony during the trial, the apartment was filled with empty food boxes, the toilets contained human waste and police found cocaine in the bedroom. Cocaine was also discovered in the Westlake motel where he and his older daughter were staying at the time of his July arrest.

Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman described during the sentencing hearing what he believed to be Warfel’s reasons for failing to report Ember’s death.

“The state contends there are two reasons here he didn’t report the death. One — not to have to inform his family (and) put them through the anguish of a death of another child in a little over two years. … And the other was to avoid an investigation, to avoid an autopsy as had happened with (Erin).”

Erin’s death was ruled “sudden unexplained infant death, sustained in a manner undetermined” by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Warfel said he was upset he would never know the cause of her death, which occurred five weeks after a doctor said she was healthy.

“I have to wait until I get to heaven to find answers why she died,” he said.

Collier said the cause of Ember’s death is likely unknowable as well.

“You will never know,” he said. “No one will ever know. That you accomplished.”

Investigators could not determine Ember’s cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition. A hair follicle test revealed cocaine in Ember’s hair, but defense attorney Michael O’Shea argued in court documents that it was unclear when or how the substance entered her system.

The discovery was not discussed during Warfel’s bench trial that resulted in convictions on all eight counts. The prosecution was “working to determine if additional charges … can be pursued,” according to court documents filed before the trial.

O’Shea asked Collier on Friday not to allow graphic photos or media attention to sway his sentencing decision Friday.

“My biggest fear … is that the photograph that we’ve all seen of that deceased child would mandate almost that our sensibilities overtake our logic,” O’Shea said.

Collier said he has encountered other potentially graphic or emotional cases during his almost 40 combined years as a prosecutor and judge.

“Believe me, I’ve seen some photographs,” he said.

O’Shea added, contrary to the findings of the pre-sentence investigation, Warfel is supported by many family members and family friends. A sentencing memorandum dated Thursday included letters of support from more than 30 individuals.

“Eric has made some poor decisions in the past, which he regrets, and has asked for forgiveness,” John Warfel, Eric’s father, said in a letter attached to the memorandum. “He is a loving, caring man.”

Warfel’s father added that he and his wife are seeking custody of the older daughter through Medina County Juvenile Court.

Holman asked for at least a five-year prison sentence for Warfel. He said Warfel is at high risk to commit another offense because of a history of substance abuse and a prior charge involving operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

O’Shea disagreed.

“This idea that he’s a likely recidivist is absolute pure speculation without any objective backing,” he said.

Warfel could have faced a sentence of up to six years based on his convictions.

He received 166 days of credit for time already served. Warfel spent the remaining time between his arrest and conviction in a group home while out on a $200,000 bond.

“Sentencing is the prerogative of the court,” Holman said. “We in this office respect the court’s judgment both as to the verdict rendered and the sentence.”

O’Shea said he felt neutral about the sentencing decision. However, Warfel will likely file an appeal to contest several legal issues.

“We won some issues and lost some issues today,” O’Shea said. “The judge kind of split it down the middle. … I’m not elated or upset.”

BOB FINNAN / GAZETTE Debbie Young, mother of the late Emily A. Young, holds up a photo of her three daughters in Wayne County Common Pleas Court Friday during the sentencing of admitted murderer LaReece Woods.

Debbie Young has waited six months to look her daughter’s murderer in the eye.

That day came Friday during an emotional sentencing hearing in Wayne County Common Pleas Court in Wooster. LaReece KeSean “Wally” Woods will serve 23 years to life in prison for the murder of Emily A. Young on Jan. 7 in Orrville.

Debbie Young said she tried to be politically correct with her comments to the 23-year-old Woods. However, she unloaded on the killer in her concluding comments.

“I hope you end up being somebody’s b—-h,” she said.

Woods, of Orrville, was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder, which also carries an additional three-year mandatory firearms specification. He also was sentenced to five years for a sexual battery case in 2015 involving a Wooster woman.

Woods was brought to court Friday from the Lorain Correctional Institute in Grafton, where he had begun serving a pair of concurrent one-year sentences for biting two sheriff’s deputies in April while in Wayne County Jail, where he was being held after the Young shooting in January.

He also will serve six months concurrently on a child-endangering charge stemming from his twin daughters, Delainee and Helaina, being in the back seat of their mother’s SUV when she was shot.

Judge Corey E. Spitler said Woods would be eligible for parole in 23 years.

LaReece Woods stands before Wayne County Common Pleas Judge Corey E. Spitler Friday at his sentencing hearing. He will serve 23 years to life for the murder of his estranged wife, Emily A. Young. BOB FINNAN / GAZETTE

He will be listed as a tier III sex offender for the rest of his life and is required to register with authorities every 90 days. Woods will get credit for 168 days already served in jail.

Woods’ only comment in court was straight forward.

“I’m ready for my punishment,” he said.

‘Dark, evil soul’

The Wooster woman who was assaulted by Woods also spoke in court Friday. She called him a “sick, repugnant animal.

“He has a dark, evil soul. To me, he’s like a devil.”

Debbie Young had two photos with her at the podium — one of the entire Young family taken two weeks before Emily was killed — and the other of Emily’s three girls. The twins, Helaina and Delainee, turned 1 year old Saturday. An older daughter, Adrianna, is now 2 1/2. Woods is not Adrianna’s father.

Even though Woods was married to Emily Young, Debbie Young said he was never emotionally a member of her family. Emily Young was a 2009 graduate of Black River High School. The 24-year-old also attended the Medina County Career Center.

The first time Debbie Young met Woods, in December 2014, she said she didn’t have a good feeling about him. Things would only get worse.

“He put Emily through hell from that time until he decided it was his role to end her life on Jan. 7,” Debbie Young said.

Army service in Alaska

After Emily Young and Woods got married, he was stationed in the Army in Alaska “before he was kicked out.”

Twice, Emily Young spent six-week intervals in Alaska before coming home.

“He played so many mind games with her,” Debbie Young said. “You brought nothing but pain, torment, stress, hatred and complete devastation to our family for the last two years. You are the absolute definition of a narcissist — an inflated sense of self-importance.”

Debbie Young said Woods hid his marriage.

“He didn’t want anyone to know they were married,” she said. “He tore up wedding pictures that were taken while in Alaska. She was not allowed to change her name on social media. She was not allowed to post any pictures, state anything that they were married. Why? He wanted to continue the charade.”

Debbie Young said Woods created a fake Facebook account under the name of Ben Pearson.

“He continued to see women even though he was married and she carried his babies,” she said. “You don’t know how many times she called from Alaska. He dumped her (Emily’s) bipolar medicine in the toilet. He kicked her in the stomach when she was pregnant with the twins.”

Family makes a dark visit

Debbie Young kept Adrianna when Emily Young moved to Alaska. She took the little girl to visit one time and was shocked by the conditions in which they were living.

“I walked into a hotel room that was in completely dark,” she said. “It was isolated. Emily looked horrible. She had lost weight and was depressed.”

She talked to Woods, who said something that will haunt her the rest of her life.

“He looked at me and said, ‘I don’t want it all on me if something happens and I decide to defend myself and I kill her,’ ” Debbie Young said.

Debbie Young said her daughter twice filed for divorce, but both times failed to carry through with it.

After she delivered the twins, Emily Young decided to give it another try with Woods and they moved into her parents’ home in Spencer Township.

“Jim (Debbie’s husband and Emily’s father) and I came from a community where you care about each other,” Debbie Young said. “You mentor. As a community, you look out for each other. Jim tried to mentor him and be the dad he never had.

“All that I saw was disgust. All I felt in our home was stress and disrespect.”

Debbie Young came home one day and found Woods in Emily’s room, wearing one of her robes and playing video games. The twins, 6 weeks old at the time, were crying in another room.

“I said, ‘Wally, do you not hear them crying?’ ” she said. “ ‘Oh, yeah.’ He later informed me he asked his mom if it was OK to let babies cry. She told him, ‘Yes.’ He told me later, ‘I just let them cry until they throw up and then they fall asleep.’

“This man was never a dad. He was only the sperm donor. He had no desire to work. My husband and I spent lots of money doing everything we could to get them on their feet, get him working, to get him a job. It was always,

‘Emily, get some money from your mom so we can go out, get some money from your mom so we can get cigarettes.’ ”

Domestic violence incidents

Debbie Young said the couple’s first domestic violence case occurred in September 2015.

“I got a call from work from my hysterical daughter,” she said. “I was an hour away in Hudson. She said it was bad and the sheriff was on the way. By the time I got home, I had three sheriff’s cars in our driveway.”

When Debbie Young’s sister came to the house, she found 2-year-old Adrianna sitting on the porch step, wrapped in her blanket with tears streaming from her eyes.

“(Adrianna) talked about that incident every single day in detail without any prompts from anyone,” Debbie Young said.

Debbie Young thought that would be the final straw for her daughter, but the next day, Emily was at the county jail trying to get her husband out.

The Youngs asked Emily and her husband to move out. Three weeks later, in October, events reached a climax. Debbie Young said Woods slashed all four of Emily’s tires while she was living in Medina. Woods also flashed a handgun.

“At that time, she decided this is getting serious and a civil protection order was filed, protecting everyone in our home,” Debbie Young said.

Dispute over possessions

The Youngs drove over to Orrville at Woods’ grandmother’s house to get the babies’ clothing, formula, Adrianna’s crib and toys.

They were denied access. Debbie Young later found out that Woods took everything that belonged to Emily, Adrianna and the twins and put it out on the curb.

Debbie said not having Adrianna’s crib broke her heart.

“That was her haven,” she said. “That’s where she felt safe. It took three months to get her out of our bed. She had nightmares. She cried for her mommy. That’s a lot of stress to put a young child through.”

Debbie said her daughter seemed to be on the right track. She found a full-time job. She provided a wonderful Christmas for the girls.

Woods was supposed to be sentenced in Medina Municipal Court in early January for the domestic violence case.

Emily took the twins to Orrville to see Woods “one last time (before sentencing),” Debbie said. It was technically violating the protection order. She dropped off the twins and returned home to Spencer and took a nap.

Emily woke up and wanted to pick up the twins. She had a bad feeling and didn’t want to go alone. She asked her 17-year-old friend to accompany her to Orrville.

“She kissed me and promised me she’d be home by 5:30,” Debbie said. “I had a bad feeling. You can call it mother’s intuition. When 5:30 came and went, I started the text messages and phone calls that went unanswered. I knew in my gut something had happened.

“You put (a 17-year-old senior at Black River High School) through hell. She sat in the car and witnessed him murder her big sister. What you did … is tragic. She tried to get through her senior prom and graduate, while she was in a state of shock.”

Overwhelming support

After Emily was killed — Woods confessed to the shooting to Orrville Police later that night — Debbie Young said there was an outpouring from the community.

“Wally, you think you’re so special,” Debbie said. “There were 600-plus people at Emily’s memorial service. That’s how many people loved her.

“That is the impact she made on Medina County, Lorain County and the Spencer community. I got 191 private messages from people I don’t even know, offering their condolences.

“We have a third bay in our garage that is stuffed full with diapers, wipes and toys. The amount of support we got is overwhelming. Total strangers sent cards, money and prayers.”

All of that love was shown for a young mother that always had a smile on her face.

“All because of this beautiful girl with an infectious laugh,” Debbie said.

“Her spunk. Her zeal for life. A 24-year-old mom of three was loved by everyone. Everyone that met her, she left with a lasting impression. What it has done to Adrianna, that child will never recover from. She’s been with a child psychiatrist wondering what happened to her mommy.

She knows who killed her. She remembers seeing her mom cut on the day of the domestic violence and her bleeding. In her mind, Wally killed mommy.”

She said Woods’ actions affected many people.

“You have changed lives,” Debbie said.

“You will never be a dad to your twins. You were just a sperm donor. We are now sole residential parents to them. We are the sole custodial (parents), and we will be adopting them. Thank God, Emily had the sense to give them the last name of Young.”

Medical examiners determined that Woods shot Emily at close range with a 9 millimeter handgun. It might have been as close as six inches.

“You shot her within inches of Helaina and Delainee,” Debbie said.

“They sat in car seats in the backseat. (Emily’s friend) was in the passenger seat. We saw the pictures.

“The twins just celebrated their first birthday Saturday. They are happy babies. We are so thankful of that. In our family, we are a family of love and support and nurturing. We have a big village of people that is helping us.”

Prosecutor happy with sentencing

Dan Lutz, Wayne County prosecutor, said he was satisfied with the sentence.

“Apart from running today’s sentence from the murder charge and sexual battery charge concurrent with the one-year felonious assault prison sentence the defendant was previously awarded on June 24, the judge effectively gave Woods the maximum sentence available to award,” he said.

“My office and I are very pleased.”

Debbie Young said she hopes Woods never sees the outside of prison.

“I hope you get to be tormented and tortured like you did to Emily,” she said. “I know you have no remorse. You never thanked us for anything we did for you. Never.

“I hope you remember this picture. (It’s) our only child. The only child we were allowed to have. She was our world.”

After a five-year absence, the Wadsworth Police Department is getting ready to add a K-9 officer to the force again.

Eight officers have shown interest in becoming handlers for the dog, a German shepherd from Europe, Lt. Dave Dorland told The Gazette on Monday.

The selection process will start in the coming weeks for a prospective handler and once the handler is chosen, the officer and the dog will have about six weeks of training followed by state certification.

The handler and dog also will complete classes once a month for updates on methods and legalities.

Dorland said during training, dogs encounter other local K-9 officers, allowing them to become familiar.

The choice of a European dog follows a pattern of other K-9 officers in the county, Dorland said. The bloodline of the dogs can be traced and evaluated, helping the department make a selection.

Wadsworth’s K-9 program has been vacant after the department’s last K-9 unit, Jager, was retired.

Within the last few years, officers have been “clamoring” to get a new K9 unit, Dorland said, noting the increase in cases involving drug abuse.

“It makes it even more important to have that extra leg of our department and enforcement,” Dorland said.

Dorland said Police Chief Randy Reinke wanted to make sure the department could afford to acquire a dog and account for training and equipment.

The department has raised about $12,000 in donations in the last 1ﾽ years.

In April, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office raised $30,000 for the acquisition of two dogs. Wadsworth officials said they do not have an exact figure of the cost yet but one of the police vehicles will need updating to accommodate the K-9 unit.

Dorland said the cost goes beyond the initial purchasing.

“When you are a handler like this, there is a level of compensation that is due to the handler for caring for the dog in off-duty hours,” Dorland explained.

“I think we’ll get out of the dog what we put into him,” Dorland said, noting that drug activity in the city means the K-9 unit will be “a success.”

A name is not picked out yet for the future dog, and Dorland said he wasn’t sure if the trainer or handler will choose it.

The K-9 unit will be trained to be around people and children.

“Our goal is to make the canine very friendly in a public sense, go out and be able to do public demonstrations, be very interactive with the public,” Dorland said.

Typically, the work life of a K-9 officer is about eight years, Dorland said.

The police department has approximately 30 full-time officers.

Dorland said donations toward the K-9 acquisition can be made payable to Wadsworth Police. K-9 donation should be marked in the memo section of the check. Mail checks to: Wadsworth Police Department, 120 Maple St., Wadsworth, OH 44281.

A Medina County Career Center teacher died and two others were injured in a Monday afternoon crash in Ottawa County, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Jetta Fete, 64, of Wadsworth, died of her injuries. The other teachers — Jody Toddy, 54, also of Wadsworth, and Megan Mahoney, 32, of Spencer — were hospitalized after the 4:22 p.m. crash. Toddy and Mahoney were passengers in Fete’s vehicle, a patrol news release said.

A Volkswagen Jetta driven by Fete was attempting to turn onto state Route 269 from South Danbury Road in Danbury Township. Troopers believe the car failed to halt at a stop sign and was struck by a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado driven by 34-year-old Diana Coffman-Odom, of Huron, the release said.

Fete was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo.

Toddy suffered what were described as minor injuries and was treated and released at Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton.

Mahoney was admitted to the burn unit at St. Vincent on Tuesday afternoon. Information on her condition was not available Tuesday.

Coffman-Odom was taken to Firelands Regional Medical Center in Sandusky. A hospital spokesperson said no information was available on her condition.

MCCC Principal Tresa Goodwin said the three were friends and not on a school-related trip.

“It’s a huge loss,” she said. “(Fete) was a very special person.”

Goodwin said the school has contacted Hospice of the Western Reserve and plans to hold a ceremony open to the public Thursday or Friday evening.

She said the career center will post further details on its website and social media — https://mcjvs.edu/ and https://www.facebook.com/medinacountycareercenter.edu/.

The career center’s website said Fete was an English teacher at the school for
15 years. She graduated from Wadsworth High School and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Akron.

In her teacher profile, she listed travel, antiques, house rehabilitation, reading and “learning just to learn” among her hobbies.

Mahoney, also known as Megan Vild, has taught English at the center for three years. She is an MCCC graduate.

Toddy, a social studies instructor and Medina High School graduate, has taught at the school for 22 years.

A trooper said Tuesday evening  the crash remains under investigation.

A Wadsworth man accused of creating a brief hostage situation at his home last month has pleaded not guilty to seven felony counts.

Larry Noble

Larry Noble, 32, pleaded not guilty Monday in Medina County Common Pleas Court to three counts of kidnapping, one count of felonious assault and three counts of abduction. The counts carry firearm and forfeiture specifications.

Abduction is a third-degree felony. The remaining counts are all second-degree felonies.

County Prosecutor Dean Holman said the June 20 incident escalated from an argument between Noble and his live-in girlfriend, who is the mother of his two children. During the dispute about living arrangements, the 32-year-old woman asked Noble to leave their shared home in Wadsworth Trailer Park at 920 Broad St.

According to Holman, she called two friends, a 22-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, to help persuade Noble to leave. Angered, Noble grabbed a shotgun and kept his girlfriend and her friends in a room for approximately 10 minutes before he agreed to unload his weapon, Holman said.

During the incident, Noble threatened to kill the older man, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Noble’s attorney, Thomas Rein, said his client has no prior felony convictions. He also has no criminal record in Wadsworth or Medina municipal courts.

Noble is being held on $100,000 bond at the Medina County Jail. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 12.

Until there is calm nationwide, the Medina Police Department is not taking any chances with officer safety.

Police Chief Pat Berarducci announced at Monday night’s Medina City Council that until further notice, he has decided to assign two officers to each cruiser.

LAWRENCE PANTAGES / GAZETTE
Medina Police Chief Pat Berarducci told City Council that the department is changing its patrols to 2-officer teams indefinitely. Berarducci also said jokingly he is will be gaining weight if city residents continue to deliver baked goods to the department. Sitting to Berarducci’s left at the council meeting were city law director Greg Huber, city finance director Keith Dirham and Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell.

Five police officers were killed and nine other people were injured Thursday in Dallas during a protest that followed the deaths of two black men by police in Minnesota and Lousiana earlier last week.

“Hopefully, this country will get a hold of itself and realize that bullets are not the answer,” Berarducci said.

The chief said the pairing of officers will lead to longer response times for “non-priority” calls.

“If it’s (an emergency) call, they are going to come as fast as they ever did,” he said. “If it’s someone breaking into your garage two days ago, it’s going to take a while.

“I hope everybody will understand. I’m sure they will. We were able to shift gears and immediately put our plan in place to protect our officers. That’s the important thing.”

Ward 2 Councilman Dennie Simpson said he hopes the country will heal.

“We’ll keep them in our hearts,” he said. “We’ll keep them in our prayers.”

He said he’s been on council for 13 years and has not heard one complaint about the Medina police force.

Berarducci said the two-person patrols will continue until things get back to “normal.”

In the last week or so, the chief said, his department has received encouragement from the community. Area children have filled the department’s roll call room with pictures and drawings.

Berarducci said it has been uplifting to the force.

“The cards from the kids are especially nice to see,” he said. “When the guys head out, they see them. Guys were getting low in spirits. That’s helped turn it around.”

Other gestures have come in the form of baked goods.

“There’s been an outpouring of support in this community for law enforcement,” Berarducci said. “If we get any more outpouring, I’ll gain 50 pounds.”

Marc Morley

A 47-year-old man with a theft conviction and involvement in five criminal cases dating to 1996 was taken into custody after an almost two-hour manhunt Wednesday afternoon in Medina Township.

According to police, Marc Morley, of Middleburg Heights, fled during a traffic stop at 2:05 p.m. at state Route 18 and Eastpointe Drive. He ran west through a Wendy’s restaurant, across Nettleton Road and into a densely wooded area, Montville Township police Lt. Matthew Neil told The Gazette.

Montville police set up a perimeter with the aid of the Medina Township Police Department, Ohio Highway Patrol and Medina County Sheriff’s Office. Officers set up posts on Nettleton Road to the east, Hardwood Hollow Road to the north, Greentree Circle to the south and Shadybrook Lane to the west, Neil said.

A plane from the highway patrol flew overhead while three K-9 units were sent to the area to “flush him out” and toward officers on the perimeter.

The dogs pushed him out, but “never laid eyes on him,” Neil said.

Neil said a sheriff’s deputy on the 3200 block of Hardwood Hollow saw Morley approach and waited until the man got within range to announce his presence and detain Morley. He was arrested without incident, police said.

“I don’t think (Morley) saw the police and I don’t think he wanted to be seen,” Neil said.

Morley was transported to Summa Health Center at Lake Medina for a swollen ankle.

Neil said Morley still was being interviewed Wednesday evening and police were trying to determine why he fled. The department charged him with falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor, and obstruction, a second-degree misdemeanor, Neil said.

Morley is wanted on several warrants out of North Ridgeville, Fairlawn, Olmsted Falls and the state-wide Adult Parole Authority, according to Neil. The charges associated with the warrants include contempt of court, marijuana possession and robbery.

Neil said officers were warned Morley had a “long rap sheet.”

Morley has a theft conviction from 2011 in Medina County Common Pleas Court and five criminal cases dating to 1996 in Medina Municipal Court.

The driver of the vehicle Morley fled from told police Morley was self-harming and had been suicidal for several days. The reason for the traffic stop was not disclosed.

“I’m glad that he’s OK and all the officers are OK,” Neil said.

Neil said hydration was a concern for the officers and dogs involved in the search. The Medina Life Support Team coordinated with the True­north gas station in Medina to provide water during the search.

Morley is being held at the Medina County Jail.

CHICAGO — Police in Dallas were the first in the nation to use a robot to deliver and detonate a bomb to kill a suspect, but other law enforcement agencies are willing and able to follow suit, including some that even have trained for the day when they’d have to do so.

The killing of Micah Johnson using a robot-delivered bomb ended a night of terror in which he shot 14 officers, killing five of them, and also wounded two civilians. Dallas’ police chief, David Brown, said the decision was made to kill the 25-year-old Army veteran with a robot because talks with police negotiators had failed and he didn’t want to put any other officers in harm’s way.

With law enforcement’s rapidly expanding access to robots that can roll into and fly over hostage situations, gunfights, chases and standoffs, experts say it’s just a matter of time before they’ll be used again to kill.

“Nobody wanted to be the first but, yeah, there is no question that it proved effective and the door is now open,” said Sid Heal, president of the California Association of Tactical Officers and a retired Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department commander.

Today, dozens of the largest U.S. law enforcement agencies have at least one robot, according to experts. And many smaller departments are just a phone call away from having access to a nearby agency’s device.

Under a federal government program that supplies excess military equipment to civil agencies, the number of agencies that have acquired a robot has climbed dramatically this year. According to a study by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, there have been 201 such transfers in the first six months of this year, which is dozens more than in any full year since 2003 and 120 more than in all of 2015.

These robots are routinely used to get a closer look at suspicious devices in a way that doesn’t endanger officers and to begin communications with armed suspects.

“They’ve been used to carry phones, note pads, and pizzas to suspects,” said Mark Lomax, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association. One was used to help search the Orlando nightclub where a man’s shooting spree left 49 people dead and 53 others injured last month. Another was used in the manhunt for one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects and lifted the tarp on the boat where he was found hiding.

Plenty of thought has been given to additional uses.

“You are seeing at trade shows robotic systems that are mounted with things like tear gas launchers,” said Peter Singer, who has studied and written extensively on the technology and warfare, and the author of “Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century.”

In Illinois, the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department has two robots equipped to disable and even kill suspects.

“Our robots can fire less lethal projectors like bean bags, they can fire a Taser if need be or a lethal 12-guage shotgun round,” said Brian White, the department’s first deputy chief of police. White said he wouldn’t hesitate to order the robots to fire at suspects if a situation merited.

“I thought that was a quick way to mitigate the public safety threat to Dallas residents and the other officers who were there,” he said.

Others said they considered the approach for the same reason Brown used one in Dallas: to save lives.

Heal, for example, said there was discussion within the L.A. sheriff’s department about using robots to kill suspects more than a decade ago.

Michael Bouchard, the sheriff of Oakland County, Michigan, said he considered doing so during a 2012 standoff in which a man killed a police officer before barricading himself inside a building. He said the man shot three robots that were sent in and that he ultimately decided to use heavy equipment to tear down part of the building, allowing officers to fire tear gas into it before the man killed himself.

He stressed that he acted as he did for safety reasons and not because of any reluctance to using a robot as a bomb-delivery device.

“He’d already killed a cop and he was hitting homes with automatic gunfire so, yes, we decided that as a last resort we would have done that,” Bouchard said.

While Brown was widely praised for his decision in Dallas, some have expressed misgivings.

“If lethally equipped robots can be used in this situation, when else can they be used?” said Elizabeth Joh, a University of California at Davis law professor who has followed U.S. law enforcement’s use of technology. “Extreme emergencies shouldn’t define the scope of more ordinary situations where police may want to use robots that are capable of harm.”

PHOENIX — In a blue-collar Phoenix neighborhood known for gang and drug violence, Margarito Castro’s 19-year-old son Manny was learning to be a welder just like his father. Father and son carpooled together to work until June 10, when Manny was shot dead as he sat in his car in front of his girlfriend’s house by a suspect identified this week as the city’s first serial killer in a decade.

Now Margarito Castro goes to visit Manuel “Manny” Castro Garcia’s grave daily, mystified why someone targeted his son and six other people since March. Police say all were killed by a thin, lanky man with a handgun who is probably in his 20s and that there is no known motive.

He is possibly Hispanic, like many of the 208,000 people living in the Maryvale neighborhood where all but one of the killings happened after dark and just before dawn.

Shootings often ring out at night in Maryvale, a neighborhood of strip malls and auto parts stores where most of the stucco single-story homes feature bars on windows and chain-link fences protecting yards.

People who don’t live in the neighborhood frequently avoid driving through it at night, but Margarito Castro said his son never got involved with crime or gangs. And a police detective who went through the young man’s belongings and pored over his social media accounts told Castro he couldn’t figure out why someone would want to kill his son.

“He was a good boy,” Castro said from under the shade of a tree in the cemetery, where he tries to stay half an hour on every visit despite temperatures hitting 110 degrees.

The six killings in Maryvale — and one in another working class neighborhood about 10 miles away — come after six people were killed and 19 wounded in 2005-2006 series of seemingly random shootings that terrorized Phoenix.

But those happened all around the sprawling city of 1.5 million spanning more than 500 square miles. Airport janitor Dale Hausner and his roommate Sam Dietman, a petty criminal, were given life sentences. Hausner committed suicide in prison by overdosing three years ago.

All of the latest victims were Hispanic or black, and one was a 12-year-old girl. The men and women were shot outside homes as they stood or sat in cars by a suspect or suspects firing a handgun from inside a car described as both light and dark or while on foot near the victims and then fleeing in the car, police said.

“We’re talking about people outside of residential areas or outside of a home in the street, next to the street, with a description of a suspect that drives up, gets out, almost without any prior contact just starts shooting and then flees in that vehicle,” Phoenix police Sgt. Jonathan Howard said.

He added: “Everybody has reported one person. Some of our witnesses have reported that they believe there were additional people or another person in the car, and certainly we’re keeping an open mind.”

A 16-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man were also shot but survived. One of them gave enough information for police to create a composite sketch of the suspect with short-cropped dark hair. Police have few other leads about the suspect and the vehicle and are appealing to the public for tips.

So far, officers have not identified a motive, unsettling Maryvale residents who say gunfire at night is relatively routine but call the latest killings scarier because they’re not attributed to the neighborhood’s longstanding problems with drug violence and gang members settling scores.

At the community YMCA, employees now take extra care to make sure that children are picked up by parents or relatives they know and the employees themselves leave the building as a group instead of heading outside on their own, YMCA worker Jenny Mendez said.

Those precautions were supposed to be routine before the killings were labeled the work of a serial killer, “but now we make sure we do it,” Mendez said.

Retired casino cook John Tang now does all of his grocery shopping during the day because he’s worried he could be shot if he walks outside after dark.

“I don’t shop at nighttime,” Tang said. “I don’t want to be another victim.”

At Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Castro held back tears and said he wants justice for the killing of his son.

“Nothing is going to bring him back,” Castro said. “Everything is with God. He’s the one that’s going to make this person or persons pay for this.”

A 39-year-old Chippewa Lake woman died early Saturday morning in a one-car crash in Guilford Township.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported in a news release that Valerie H. Hinderman was a front-seat passenger in a 2002 Dodge Neon driven by Tantrell D. Dorsey of Akron.

The car was traveling west on Interstate 76 when it went off the right side of the road into a grassy area and struck a traffic sign at 2:55 a.m.

The car overturned and rested on its roof. Hinderman was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene of the accident. Hinderman was not wearing a seatbelt, the patrol said.

The news release said the suspected use of alcohol and drugs were a contributing factor.

Dorsey was transported to Medina Hospital by Seville-Guilford Township EMS and later taken to Akron City Hospital by helicopter.

Dorsey was admitted in the intensive care unit and was still a patient on Sunday afternoon. Information on his condition was not available.

The Highway Patrol, which said it is still investigating the crash, said in the news release that Dorsey was wearing a seatbelt.

Agencies assisting the patrol at the scene were the Seville Police Department, Lodi Police Department, Medina County Sheriff’s Office and Seville-Guilford Fire Department.

BOB FINNAN / GAZETTE
Friends and family sit by a vigil at Oxford Heights condiminiums in Brunswick after the death of a 17-month-old boy on Saturday after a car accident.

Bob Vargo said the picture of the accident will be forever etched in his mind.

Vargo, who lives at Oxford Heights condominiums in Brunswick went out to get a pack of cigarettes Saturday afternoon.

When he returned, he heard someone yelling, “My baby. My baby.”

Vargo walked down Bennington Boulevard and saw that a 17-month-old boy had died after being struck by a black minivan.

“What I saw, I’ll never forget,” Vargo said.

A spokesman for Brunswick police said he had no comment Sunday evening on the incident. The department sent out two-sentence media release Saturday confirming a “fatal vehicle/pedestrian crash involving a 17-month-old.”

The boy’s name is Christian Moldovan, Medina County Coroner Dr. Neil Grabenstetter said.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Christian’s mother, Reanna Lisi wrote:

Vargo said the boy and his mother had moved into the condos with his grandmother the day before.

Brunswick police and fire departments responded to the scene of the accident at 3:57 p.m. Saturday. The toddler was killed on the 4200 block of Bennington Boulevard.

Bob Vargo

Vargo said the little boy apparently got free from his mother and ran out into the parking lot where he was struck.

“That poor family,” he said. “I could hardly sleep last night. I was sick to my stomach.”

He said when paramedics arrived, they just put a sheet over the boy.

“Seven or eight cruisers swarmed this place,” Vargo said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting the ongoing investigation jointly with Brunswick police.

“BCI was there trying to lift blood off the van,” Vargo said.

He said the coroner also was on hand.

After the incident, a priest conducted a prayer vigil at the site.

Vargo said the condos are teeming with children.

“People drive through here like maniacs,” he said. “This is no surprise at all.”

BALTIMORE — A Baltimore judge dealt the state yet another blow in the protracted and unsuccessful prosecution of six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man who was injured in police custody.

Even though it was the judge’s third consecutive acquittal in the case, prosecutors seem to be willing to try the remaining three cases amid mounting pressure to call it quits.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams found Lt. Brian Rice, who faced manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges, not guilty Monday, telling prosecutors they failed to establish that Rice was aware of his duty to buckle Gray into a seat belt, and more importantly, that he deliberately breached his duty in order to put Gray in danger.

“There are a number of possibilities this court could entertain, some that are innocent and some that are not,” Williams said. “However, the burden of proof rests with the state, and the court’s imaginings do not serve as a substitute for evidence.”

Gray was arrested in April 2015 when he ran from police in a high-crime area. He was handcuffed and shackled but left unbuckled in the back of a police van and suffered a critical neck injury. Gray’s name became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement, fueling outrage nationwide over the treatment of black people by the criminal justice system and prompting the worst rioting in the city in decades.

The U.S. Justice Department launched a patterns and practice investigation into allegations of widespread abuse and unlawful arrests by the Baltimore Police Department.

Rice’s acquittal is the fourth consecutive blow to the state’s case, but the next officer remains scheduled to stand trial next week. Prosecutors have given no indication that they plan to change course.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are barred from commenting due to a gag order.

Earlier this year, officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson, the van driver who was facing a murder charge, were also found not guilty. Officer William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury in December and his retrial is scheduled for September. The last two officers have trials this month and in October.

At a news conference, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 President Gene Ryan called for the remaining cases to be dismissed, calling it “malicious prosecution against the remaining three officers.”

Even Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, chimed in.

“My personal thinking is they should not go further” with the rest of the trials, he said after Rice’s acquittal. “It’s a waste of time and money. But that’s up to the court system to decide.”

Gray died April 19, 2015, a week after he suffered a critical spinal injury in the back of Goodson’s police wagon. Prosecutors say the officers were criminally negligent when they failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt or provide medical attention after he indicated that he wanted to go to a hospital.

With no courtroom victories, activists are focusing on protests and police department reforms. A protest Saturday that blocked the interstate through downtown resulted in more than 60 arrests. Activists said they were demonstrating in support of having civilians sit on boards that review police misconduct cases, and spending more public money on community programs instead of policing.

“I’m disgusted, as usual, and they’re sending a daily message all across the world that our lives don’t matter, and that’s sad,” said Tawanda Jones outside the courthouse Monday. She was there marking the third anniversary of her brother’s death in a separate case involving Baltimore police.

“We’re more than hashtags and body bags,” she added.

During the trial, prosecutors had said Rice was most responsible of the six officers charged for following police procedures to fasten a prisoner in a seat belt, citing his 18 years of experience on the force.

The officer’s attorney said police could use discretion, if they believe their safety is at risk. Rice attorney Michael Belsky said officers had concerns because Gray was not cooperative and they weren’t sure what onlookers would do if extra time was taken to fasten Gray in the van.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave different characterizations of the onlookers. Prosecutors described them as concerned observers, while Belsky said officers heard threatening comments during the arrest.

DENVER — Police departments across the country are ordering officers to pair up after ambush attacks left eight officers dead in Texas and Louisiana, a precaution that could slow response times to low-level crimes and drive up overtime for already exhausted police.

Some agencies that normally let officers patrol alone began forcing them to double up throughout their shifts, even during meals or other breaks during their shifts.

Los Angeles police assigned members of specialized crime-fighting units to back up officers responding to routine calls. Baltimore police began sending two squad cars to every call received. Dispatchers in Denver urged officers to travel in pairs indefinitely and “keep their head on a swivel” to protect themselves against the new threat. Police in Fort Worth extended the order beyond their uniformed officers to plainclothes detectives and high-ranking supervisors.

The new safety measures are some of the most intense since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, said Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association. Los Angeles also ordered more of its helicopters to patrol the skies. Officers elsewhere were told to keep their guard up, especially around police stations. It was unclear when operations would return to normal.

“You’re on the street eight, 10, 12 hours. Remaining with that heightened sense of alertness for that entire time is a pretty big challenge,” Stephens said. “Doubling up those officers helps them keep track of each other and helps them feel a sense of safety.”

It was unclear whether the buddy system might have prevented Sunday’s targeted killings of three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or the July 7 killings of five officers during a Dallas protest march with a heavy police presence.

In some cities, doubling up means less police visibility and geographic coverage on the streets because putting two officers in one car means others stay parked. Some departments have compensated by asking officers to extend their shifts, further straining those already on overtime from long nights of protests.

In Denver, two officers already respond to most calls, either together or in separate cars. But response times could end up slower for lower-priority cases, like thefts, that typically require just one officer.

Two-person patrols are the safest approach, but “what we’re seeing is the two-officer cars are responding to everything, so there are fewer cars to handle the calls,” said Denver police Sgt. Bryan O’Neill, vice president of the city’s Police Protective Association. “Our two-man cars are going out and working as quickly and effectively as they can, knowing that the calls are going to stack up. They don’t want to see the citizens suffer because we have fewer cars out there.”

Two-officer patrols are not a fool-proof solution, and studies are mixed about their effectiveness. Seven of the 51 officers killed in 2014 were in a two-officer vehicle, according to FBI statistics.

But if an officer is shot, a two-person patrol usually ensures the second officer can radio and get help, said Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore officer who teaches law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

But two-officer patrols are difficult to sustain for departments short on money and manpower, said Officer Robert Swartzwelder, president of the police union in Pittsburgh, where the chief called for fewer single-officer cars patrolling neighborhoods.

Most police departments will continue to focus resources on high-crime neighborhoods, in spite of manpower constraints, Stephens said.

Some officers said a strain on resources is worth it to improve officer safety during dangerous times. The shooting of an officer in Milwaukee Sunday as he sat alone in his police cruiser should be seen as proof of the buddy system’s value, said Mike Crivello, who heads the Milwaukee’s Police Association union.

“When there are two officers, obviously it’s double protection for both of them,” he said.

The Milwaukee officer was wounded and undergoing surgery Monday. “Had he had a partner, the other one would be watching out,” Crivello said.

Former television and radio sports broadcaster Chuck Galeti, who has faced drunken driving charges in the past, was picked up this month in Litchfield Township after the Medina County Sheriff’s Office received calls about a possible impaired driver.

Chuck Galeti

The sheriff’s office said it received several calls of a possible drunken driver at 4:19 p.m. July 4. One of the callers started following a red 1996 GMC pickup on Avon Lake Road in Litchfield Township. Once the truck traveled into Chatham Township, it pulled into the Chatham General Store in the 6400 block of Avon Lake Road.

Deputies approached the truck and said the driver of the vehicle started consuming several unknown white pills, according to the sheriff’s office.

The driver was identified as Parma resident Galeti, 51.

He was formerly the host of “Chuck’s Last Call,” a sports call-in show on Fox Sports Ohio cable. In 2013 he was fired after being arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle impaired in Parma.

He also was formerly a weekend sportscaster for WKYC-TV 3 sports in Cleveland.

In 2003 he was convicted of possession of marijuana, and DUI in 2004, records show.

On July 4, deputies said there was an open  24-ounce can of Molson Ice in the truck, as well as an empty 24-ounce can of Labatt Ice. Ninety-five white pills later identified as Lorazepan were found in the truck, along with a bottle that contained 154 while pills. A clear plastic seven-day pill container with multiple pills in each compartment also was found, according to the sheriff’s office.

Galeti was taken by rescue squad to Summa Lake Medina for medical evaluation. Authorities said a report has been sent to the county prosecutor’s office.

Galeti faces charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence, tampering with evidence and obstructing official business. Galeti’s arraignment is pending in Medina Municipal Court.

The Ohio Highway Patrol and Medina County Sheriff’s Office spent Monday night and early Tuesday morning searching for a man who jumped out of a moving ambulance on Interstate 71.

Quentin Crossan

As of Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement officers still were looking for 20-year-old Quentin Crossan. His residence was not disclosed.

Sgt. Alan Dunbar of the patrol’s Medina post said Crossan was being transported to a facility via private ambulance when about 11:30 p.m. he jumped out of the back of the moving vehicle that was traveling south on I-71 in Harrisville Township.

The ambulance was traveling 50 mph when Crossan jumped out and fled on foot, Dunbar said, noting Crossan probably suffered injuries because of the rate of speed the vehicle was traveling.

Dunbar said law enforcement looked for Crossan, who was wearing green hospital pants. Officers used thermal imagers and also attempted to “ping” his cellphone, in attempts to locate him.

According sheriff’s office records, a K-9 unit and aircraft also were used in the search for Crossan.

Crossan has two warrants for his arrest from Strongsville, both for failure to appear in court for traffic violations, according to the patrol.

Crossan is a white male, about 5-foot-7 and 200 pounds with blond hair and green eyes. Anyone with information is urged to call 911.

The ambulance’s destination was not disclosed.

A Strongsville resident who was said to have jumped out of a moving ambulance on Interstate 71 late Monday night was reported safe by his girlfriend Tuesday, leading to his apprehension.

Quentin Crossan

Ohio Highway Patrol Lt. Mark Neff, commander of the Medina post, told The Gazette on Wednesday that Quentin Crossan, 20, a psychiatric patient, was being transferred to a Columbus facility via private ambulance from a hospital in Cuyahoga County.

Crossan, who has two warrants out for failure to appear on traffic violations in Strongsville, did not want to go to the facility, Neff said.

The ambulance pulled over around 11:30 Monday night on Interstate 71 south after Crossan said he wanted to use a restroom. Crossan then fled, according to the patrol.

Crossan’s girlfriend, Kassandra McCormick, contacted authorities at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, telling them she picked up Crossan at 7 that morning and took him to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, according to the patrol.

“He had no injuries according to an ER doctor at Metro,” Neff said. “It’s safe to assume the second story” about the ambulance stopping could be correct.

It had been reported that Crossan jumped out of a moving ambulance traveling at 50 mph during the transport on Monday night and fled.

Law enforcement authorities searched Monday night into early Tuesday morning for Crossan. They used a K-9 unit, thermal imaging devices and aircraft during the unsuccessful search.

It has not yet been determined if Crossan will be charged in the Monday incident.

Two 18-year-olds from Montville Township have each been charged with one count of felony vandalism.

PHOTO PROVIDED
Vandalism to the 15th green on the golf course at the Fox Meadow Country Club is set estimated at $4,000 in damages after Austin Provost, a former employee, and Brandon Gandolph defecated and used spray paint and weed killer to write vulgar images in the green.

Vandalism to the 15th green on the golf course at the Fox Meadow Country Club at 4260 Fox Meadow Drive in Montville Township is estimated at $4,000 in damages.

Charged were Austin Provost, of the 6000 block of Fawndale Drive in Montville, and Brandon Gandolf, of the 4000 block of Lexington Ridge Drive, also in Montville.

The golf course fired Provost on Monday, according to Montville Township Police Department Lt. Matthew Neil. On Tuesday, police said, Provost was at the driving range and was escorted off the property.

Later Tuesday night, police said, Provost and Gandolf allegedly committed vandalism that included defecating on the green, and using spray paint and Round-Up weed killer to write and draw vulgar images and words.

“We actively patrol the neighborhoods. Because we have such a unique layout, we hit every subdivision a few times a day,” Neil said.

Neil said incidents such as the vandalism do not occur often because of frequent patrols.

Gandolf was released from custody while Provost is at the Medina County Jail on $10,000 bond.