The Observation Deck

Okay, we all know that the Sun Post's crime blotter is scarce with details and does not always paint a 100% accurate picture. To avoid creating new thread after new thread, I will update this thread on a weekly basis with crime incidents happening in Lakewood.

Around 1:03 A.M. on Jan. 10th, a vehicle was stopped at Detroit & Westlake for a traffic violation. This traffic stop resulted in an arrest of a female, Samantha McCarthy of W. 83rd in Cleveland for driving while suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Around 1:14 A.M. on Jan. 10th, a vehicle was stopped at W. 117th & Western for a traffic violation. A male inside the vehicle named Stewart Lee from Cleveland's east side was found to have an active warrant and was arrested.

Around 5:00 P.M. on Jan. 10th, a female was discovered to have overdosed on Heroin inside the house at 17400 Woodford. Madalina Long was charged in connection with this incident with possessing a drug abuse instrument and disorderly conduct while intoxicated.

Around 5:19 P.M. on Jan. 10th, McDonald's on W. 117th called police to report the receipt of a fake $20 bill.

Around 5:43 P.M. on Jan. 10th, a male went to the police station to report that he had been stabbed at a party at a house on Carabel the previous night.

Around 7:11 P.M. on Jan. 10th, a male attempted to use a fake $20 bill at Burger King on Madison. He was able to escape, but an employee was able to catch a license plate number on the suspect's vehicle.

Around 10:30 P.M. on Jan. 10th, police were called to Brookfield Manor Apartments at 11839 Edgewater on reports of someone's son threatening residents with a knife. The suspect, Joshua Perchinski, was charged with domestic violence and Marijuana abuse.

Around 11:15 P.M. on Jan. 10th, police were called to Madison Garden Apartments at 11824 Madison on reports of someone's girlfriend charging him with a knife and stealing their 3-year-old son. The female, Ireland Bailey of W. 48th St. was charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated in connection with this incident. The male, Michael Stanley, was charged with sales to underage persons and disorderly conduct while intoxicated.

Around 3:19 P.M. on Jan. 11th, police were called to Edgewater House Apartments at 12021 Edgewater on report of laundry machines being broken into.

Around 6:44 P.M. on Jan. 11th, police were called to the library on Detroit for a male that was refusing to leave the property. The suspect, Eric K. Deamer of Winchester in Lakewood was charged with resisting arrest and trespassing.

Around 7:16 P.M. on Jan. 11th, police were called to 14008 Lakewood Heights Blvd. on reports of a male that had just assaulted his girlfriend. Alvin I. Williams was arrested in connection with this incident.

Around 6:18 A.M. on Jan. 12th, someone reported that their vehicle was broken into in the 12500 block of Clifton.

Around 10:26 P.M. on Jan. 12th, a home in the 11700 block of Franklin had a window broken out and a television set stolen out of it.

Around 1:54 A.M. on Jan. 13th, police were called to the apartment building at 2040 Robin for a male and female fighting. A male named John K. Woods was in the apartment, was intoxicated, and also had a warrant out for his arrest through the sheriff's office. He was arrested.

Around 1:40 P.M. on Jan. 13th, a resident in the 1200 block of Ramona reported that the back window of their SUV had been broken out within the past 45 minutes.

Around 3:11 P.M. on Jan. 13th, police were called to 1507 Hopkins on reports that a female had just bitten her child's father and walked out the door, still in her pajamas. The male in the situation, Rincon Moss, ended up being arrested for domestic violence , violating a restraining order, and resisting arrest. Moss had already had a domestic violence charge that he was awaiting sentencing for in Lakewood Court.

Around 12:39 A.M. on Jan. 14th, police were called to 1289 Idlewood on reports of an intoxicated male in the residence throwing things around. The residents said they would go to bed.

Around 2:43 A.M. on Jan. 14th, police were called to 1278 Beach on reports of someone's intoxicated father-in-law causing a disturbance. Lawrence C. Gordon, was charged with disorderly conduct while intoxicated. Gordon has numerous previous arrests relating to alcohol and Marijuana.

Around 10:09 A.M. on Jan. 14th, police were called to 12816 Detroit on reports of a female being assaulted. Kevin Redbear was arrested in connection with this for domestic violence.

Around 1:57 A.M. on Jan. 14th. it was reported that Cleveland Vape had been broken into.

Around 1:17 P.M. on Jan. 14th, a female was caught shoplifting at Marc's. Sheila Loeffler of Gramatan Ave in Cleveland was given a ticket and sent on her way.

Around 3:46 P.M. on Jan. 14th, a male reported that his apartment at 15601 Madison was broken into.

Around 6:37 P.M. on Jan. 14th, a female called police from 1218 Cook to report that her husband was intoxicated and refusing to let her and her children leave. He was cited for intoxication.

Around 10:14 P.M. on Jan. 14th, a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation near Cannon & Granger. The juvenile male driver was found to have drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. He was cited and released to his mother.

Around 11:08 P.M. on Jan. 14th, a female was charged with violating a restraining order after she threw an object at her ex-boyfriend's house on Wayne.

Around 12:45 A.M. on Jan. 16th, a female called from Clifton Prado and reported that two males were kicking in the front door of the residence. Two juvenile males were arrested and charged with burglary.

Around 12:18 A.M. on Jan. 17th, a female said she was walking on Mathews when an unknown male hit her from behind and stole her purse and cell phone. Presumably, the suspect is still at-large.

Around 2:00 A.M. on Jan. 17th, a female had just arrived home on Gladys when two black males wearing black hoodies walked up to her car window with a gun and robbed her. Presumably, these suspects are also still at-large.

Stay safe!

Lori Allen _ wrote:Okay, we all know that the Sun Post's crime blotter is scarce with details and does not always paint a 100% accurate picture. To avoid creating new thread after new thread, I will update this thread on a weekly basis with crime incidents happening in Lakewood.

Lori

Actually 90% of all police blotters are designed to make people feel safe in their communities. People feel good about about criminals being stupid and getting caught. They like to know other families fight, and have crazy uncles, it allows them to feel better about themselves.

The flipside to that are "crime" sites, which really are unnecessary for the health of the community and can negatively, affect their values, and the very future of the city.

Many people have asked to do a "Police Blotter" in the Observer, not understanding the psychology of police blotters. They were soon overwhelmed, and got depressed. Seriously. What they found out was, often what they heard on the police scanner or in the police files, never made it to court. Not because of some grand conspiracy, but because they are settled, no actually report made by the accuser, or didn't rise to the level of "a crime"

What is the right level of coverage?

Me personally, after years of doing this, and looking at all of the factors involved.
1) If it could be an immediate threat to anyone ore people (sunday's robbieries, the westside rapist, etc.)
2) If it affects people outside of the immediate "group" (domestic argument not important, domestic argument that turns into a stand off more important)
3) Fun stuff to read.

We have a Lakewood scanner, now Westside on the front page of the site, it too depresses people until they realize much of what they are listening to is one side of a story, without the final chapters, and in crime novels, the final chapters matter the most.

One of the many books/games I often alluded to on this forum is the "Slaughter of Cities" as you are witnessing it in Lakewood right now, and all over Cleveland, and the USA, probably the world. It is really a chicken and egg kind of thing, but manifests itself in everything from this post, to the hospital leaving. Which came first, who knows, developers, or people wanting things developed? These are the Moon in the tides of a community. Pulling and tugging all the time, with serious fluctuations in the health of a city, as much as the moon can pull on the ocean and lakes.

Here is the way I break it down. Developers need to develop, and to make money they need to buy low and sell high. At first it was easy, the centers of towns were nothing, but soon they were filled and then the move out. In Cleveland, they went to Lakewood, then Rocky River, Bay Village and eventually out of the county. Wherever developers could buy low, develop and sell for profits they went. Well the move out is finite based on income, infrastructure and value. So developers then look back into the heart of the city for development/gentrification opportunities. But there is a problem there, property values remain higher than farmland, and there are no huge tracts of land, so how does one that needs to buy low to develop/gentrify and make a profit. Simply put the city must be slaughtered. Now what is odd is that very often it is the people that claim love for the community the most that aid in the slaughter unwittingly. And the cycle continues. Almost always built on the same BS, smoke and mirrors, because organic and sustainable gentrification takes decades, but lasts longer, than this new form of gentrification which borders on evil and can be best witnessed in Cuyahoga County with dozens of "hip areas" showcased then abandoned for the next.

Back to this post, as residents and lovers of Lakewood, and caretakers of our community, where do we stand in this? What can we do?

What we post, does make a difference, there are unintended consequences.

.

Hi Jim,

We will likely end up agreeing to disagree on this, but some thoughts:

Domestic violence can affect anyone in any city. Nevertheless, in Lakewood, we have a large amount of duplexes and apartments. Many (but not all) of the owners of these residences do not watch whom they rent out to. This leads to quality of life issues and police time being taken up with call after call at the same residence for domestic violence. When you combine this with a chronic criminal nuisance law (which I believe was created by Ryan Demro) that goes virtually unenforced, it creates problems and a drain on city resources over time. This theory can also be applied to several of Lakewood's seventy or more bars. There are bars in Lakewood that almost never have any problems. On the other hand, you have bars such as Around The Corner and Bobby O's that quite apparently over-serve patrons to the point that they are either:

A. Passing out and falling off their bar stool
B. Getting into fights
C. Rolling around on the sidewalk outside, often vomiting all over themselves. I have seen this with my own two eyes. On New Year's Eve, there is a good chance that you will see frozen vomit outside on the sidewalk! Serving people this much is irresponsible and quite frankly, dangerous.

Very few of these "problem" liquor establishments are ever declared nuisances, even when police are called out ten or more times over a few week period.

Upon reviewing court records, one will notice that the vast majority of those that commit crimes in Lakewood (outside of domestic crimes) come here from East Cleveland, E. 110th St, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, etc. It makes one pause and wonder: were they here for another purpose or was it planned? If so, why? How do we create deterrents for these individuals to come here and rob, steal, etc.?

It doesn't make me feel very good (or safe) when four people I know personally have been robbed at gunpoint in Lakewood. Two on their front porches behind me, two on the street on Bonnieview.

Finally, we have the fact that Lakewood was (and I believe still is) the top suburb for Heroin in the whole Cleveland area. When people need a Heroin fix, they are likely to go to almost any means to get drug money, such as breaking out storefront windows or robbing people on the street. I have said before on here that I volunteered my time a few years ago to look into grants and funding for a youth drop-in center in Lakewood. I was brushed off. I agree with a post you made a while ago that said that the War on Drugs is not working. Everyone talks about rehab, drug courts, treatment programs, etc., but is appears to be just talk. There is also not enough room in the jails to hold those who sell drugs to people and get them hooked.

Again, we will probably agree to disagree on most of this. Nevertheless, I hope we can agree that a serious discussion needs to be had about Heroin, especially in this city. It is not getting any better.

FWIW.

Thanks, Lori. A practical suggestion FWIW. How about a brief summary or highlights at the top?

Dan,
I guess I am a little slow today. What exactly do you mean by highlights or summary? Thanks.

Dan Alaimo wrote:Thanks, Lori. A practical suggestion FWIW. How about a brief summary or highlights at the top?

Dan

I am with Lori in this, high;lights???

It reminds me of one meeting with Mayor Ed FitzGerald, he wanted to build a county prison on across from city hall on Alameda Ave. When I asked him if he was serious, he said yes, they had looked at it and Alameda would be perfect. Wish his connections he could gets us county prisoners, and he told me, "we could get the cream of the crop of county prisoners."

I just had to ask, please tell me more, about the cream of the crop, and include the upsides.

I am willing to bet, residents would have stopped complaining about Drug Mart, and Family Dollar.

.

I'm not sure we're on the same page with this. I was just suggesting that if Lori is going to publish a long list of blotter items, start it off with any trends or especially interesting items that might follow. Sort of, well, a lede.

Thanks Dan. I appreciate your input.

Dan Alaimo wrote:I'm not sure we're on the same page with this. I was just suggesting that if Lori is going to publish a long list of blotter items, start it off with any trends or especially interesting items that might follow. Sort of, well, a lede.

Dan

I understand, and it was a good suggestion. Thank you.

Lori

I am not telling you or anyone what to write or say, merely making my thoughts known.

All - As many of us have spoken about for decades, Lakewood is in the middle of a long long struggle. It is a struggle all communities are going through. How do we retain residents, while finding new like minded residents that share are values? Here in Lakewood a dedication to education, and a clean, safe, fun community. We have to do this is a region that is in constant decline, which makes the battles more serious. Most communities in the region have tried all sorts of "get solid quick schemes" very few have worked. Then there is the tired old Community Develop Team BS of, "start with coffee shops, they attract artists and artsy people, then galleries, and then theaters, and then wealthy people and finally industry or hotels!!!!" I must have heard this 1,000 times in hundreds of community meetings all over America. God help us all.

My post, was a simple reminder posts matter, the balance, and what gets posted is in your hands.

The entire project was built on unintended consequences that very few seem to make room for, we thought why not be prepared, and understand them when they happen.

.

Jim,
I appreciate your point of view but I sort of disagree. I have lived in Lakewood for 26 years and the dramatic increase in crime in the last three years is very concerning to me. When several of my neighbors are held up at gun point while enjoying an evening sitting out on their front porches, I get upset. Am I to assume than that maybe in the near future, Lakewood residents will need to arm themselves when sitting on their porches, walking home or driving home from work?

Ok, so maybe I am being a little dramatic. In my opinion, the Safety Director is not doing his job. Perhaps this is due to all the time he has worked on his hospital scheme with all his friends. When our Police Officers risk their lives everyday to fight crime, and then much of the time have it excused in court, including cases involving assault on our Officers. Yes, I am angry.
Our biggest problem, which we all know is that Summers appears to have chosen to ignore our Heroin problem. You can't fix it if you ignore it. If you look at the robbery cases in our city, it is more than likely done for drug money. These people are human beings and deserve help too.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I feel it takes a village to stand up to crime and demand that something needs to be done about it. In Fairview Park and Rocky River, Lakewood is known as "East Cleveland West."

Do we wait until it is too late to turn things around? I say no. Just my opinion. Not by you Jim, but, I suspect I will be blasted. I just ask that they bring all documentation to prove me wrong. I am not mad at you Jim.

P.S. I don't think 14 rapes is exactly something for the city to be proud of. IMO

Lori Allen _ wrote:P.S. I don't think 14 rapes is exactly something for the city to be proud of. IMO

Lori

I didn't realize "the city" had committed 14 rapes.

Of course it is a problem, as are drugs, robberies, and domestic violence to name but a few.

Should we want to be safer, always.

The three keys to loving life in a community we defined in our first three months, later used by every candidate for election.

CLEAN SAFE FUN

We have every right to know, and some of these things need to be out there immediately.

SO LET's JUST TAKE IT TO THE BOTTOM, as we have found in other rape discussions. RAPE IS BAD, real bad, life in prison bad. But when you make a blanket statement like "14 Rapes..." it conjurers up women dragged into bushes, beat up and viciously raped. How many of them were date rapes? Accusations later retracted? Domestic filings? What are the numbers in Rocky River? Bay Village? Cleveland? because it all matters. Especially when a city is fighting for its life.

So as we discuss the "rape issue" in Lakewood, others read this, and say "Screw Lakewood, they have a rape issue." The family not moving here, might have been the key to Lakewood turning a corner.

This is not to say, don't mention it. Just understand there are unintended consequences.

Back to the Westside Rapist, The mayor waited 10 days and 2 other rapes to mention we had a predator in town be careful. That was wrong, very wrong, and it could have been another rape in Lakewood during those ten days had the women run west instead of east that day. But there were 4 other "rapes" that week. The other 3 disappeared over the course of investigations. Do you report all of them publicly? Who clears up the names mentioned when they are found not guilty?

This is why I am saying, post with caution, and with reflection.

Hold our elected officials, and city hall workers accountable, hold them to a higher standard, but do not harm the rest of us.

Reminds me of the the little girl that loved a kitten so much, she hugged it to death.

Sometimes, in an effort to make things better, we are oblivious to the damages done.

.

Jim,

We are probably never going to see eye to eye on this, so I will leave it at this:

After his track record with the Westside rapist incident, and other incidents, should we really trust the mayor to be truthful about a rapist or any other serial criminal going forward?

In the mayor's e-mail to Amy Martin as seen in this thread: http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12859 , it is quite obvious that the mayor was more concerned with protecting the Lakewood brand than with protecting residents. I believe you said something similar yourself.

Were any or all of these fourteen rapes date rape or stranger rape? We will never know. Let's suppose there is another serial rapist working the streets, now or in the future. Do we expect this mayor to be truthful about it going forward or to attempt to sweep it under the rug?

I come on here with facts and somehow, it appears that crime and Lakewood potentially looking bad is my fault. We have elected officials in our city that appear to be turning their back on pretty much everything (garbage, crime, heroin, housing stock).

I will no longer be contributing to this thread, as it has turned from something I intended to be simply informational to blaming me for things that I don't feel I deserve.

If anyone wants to know what is going on, they can PM me. However, if something big happens, I will still be posting.

FWIW.