The Observation Deck

Another shuts down Riverside for a short time yesterday.


Around 10pm a driver described by onlookers as "highly intoxicated" crossed the center line of Madison Avenue heading west, and struck one telephone pole in front of Stem Soap, which was spared, through a parking sign, into the next building at 12049 Madison Avenue, back into two parking meters and another telephone pole where it came to a rest.


What is left of the pole that saved Stem Soap.


Fire Chief Gilman comforts one of the store owners.


And the left front tire of the GMC SUV.


While damage was not as heavy as it could be, the front will need fixing and the brick work will need to be gone over.




Car bumper and glass. Driver took off on foot and was later arrested.


Lakewood Police and Fire clear up the mess.

In the the afternoon around 3pm, a driver crossed the center line of Riverside Drive heading south, striking a car, then the wall, coming to a rest on Daleview.


The silver car was hit.




Hit the wall.


The other car.


Riverside was quickly cleaned up and reopened. Great work Lakewood Fire and Police.

Nothing to see, move along.

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Stem is a great store and the owners are really nice people. I am so sorry this happened. I agree that we have a great Fire Department and feel safe under their care. That being said, we continue to see the effects of intoxication throughout our city. It is not a pretty sight. Imagine if a pedestrian were walking on that sidewalk at the time of impact? We have so many bars and alcohol related violence in our city now that we have to continually have the Sheriff's Department, Highway Patrol and sometimes the BCI in our city to help our great, but overworked, police. I believe that due to continued trouble at Around the Corner, they now have Sheriff's Deputies working security there. Where is our nuisance officer? According to reports, many of the establishments with continued nuisance calls are not being fined , nor are reports being made out. I recall our nuisance officer is the highest paid person in the entire Police Department making, I believe, $118,000 a year. I believe this is more than what the Police Chief makes. It appears that since our Safety Director does not want to fine his friend's establishments, then everyone gets a free pass. If this is truly the case, why not get rid of the nuisance officer and save the city $118,000 a year. Gives one thought doesn't it?

Lori Allen _ wrote:Stem is a great store and the owners are really nice people. I am so sorry this happened. I agree that we have a great Fire Department and feel safe under their care. That being said, we continue to see the effects of intoxication throughout our city. It is not a pretty sight. Imagine if a pedestrian were walking on that sidewalk at the time of impact? We have so many bars and alcohol related violence in our city now that we have to continually have the Sheriff's Department, Highway Patrol and sometimes the BCI in our city to help our great, but overworked, police. I believe that due to continued trouble at Around the Corner, they now have Sheriff's Deputies working security there. Where is our nuisance officer? According to reports, many of the establishments with continued nuisance calls are not being fined , nor are reports being made out. I recall our nuisance officer is the highest paid person in the entire Police Department making, I believe, $118,000 a year. I believe this is more than what the Police Chief makes. It appears that since our Safety Director does not want to fine his friend's establishments, then everyone gets a free pass. If this is truly the case, why not get rid of the nuisance officer and save the city $118,000 a year. Gives one thought doesn't it?

Lori

Actually, some facts might matter here. While we have more restaurants, we do not have more bars than at anytime in the past.

The city actually was known for have more bars and churches in 5 square miles than any other place in the USA. Urban legend, who knows.

Also we used to have what I would call real biker bars, 6 of them, not yuppies, but kick your ass stab you bars, today there are none.

As long as I remembered you could hear gun shots around birdtown.

And many bars in town hire the sheriff or police to guard their bars to stave off problems. Depending on their arrangement, they are allowed to wear uniforms or not while moon lighting.

Hate to let facts get in the way of a good rant.

I agree the police are overworked, but it is not the bars, yet.

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Jim is always pissing in Lori's flower

Amy Martin wrote:Jim is always pissing in Lori's flower

?

Because I corrected her about more bars?

or Because I agreed with her about the police being over worked?

Amy

I would love to blame it on the bar business, I have written a ton about it, and how it can harm a community. The facts are, DUIs are not up alarmingly if at all. This was a quick conversation with Judge Carroll. Bar violence is actually down. This is good news, it is so easy for it to be worse, and that kills a city.

Domestic violence up, heroin up.

peace

I think I'm missing something. You say that the car missed Stem and hit another store. Which store did it hit?

The new, new Lakewood economy. Access to medical care DOWN. DUI legal services, collision and storefront repair UP.

All,

I have compiled facts to back up my "rant" and have put them into a document below:

I'm curious if your data contained details as to where the State Highway Patrol made the OVI arrests. If I'm not mistaken, until just a few years ago, the Highway Patrol stayed off of the interstates in Cuyahoga County, leaving patrol duties to the local police departments. The exception, of course, was the Ohio Turnpike.

Are there more OVI arrests by the OSHP because there are more folks driving drunk, or, are there more arrests made by the OSHP because they are patrolling an area where they previously were absent?

Hi John,

While there are some arrests made by OSHP that are on I-90, the majority of them appear to be on city streets. On the case filings on the Lakewood Municipal Court website, the location of the offense is listed.

The information can be found here: http://www.lakewoodcourtoh.com/casesearch.html

Search by case. You can simply type in something like 2014TRC under the case number for example. This will list all OVI case filings in the court for 2014. Notice that under case filings, the case name is listed as: LAKEWOOD POLICE DEPT. VS. JOHN DOE or OHIO STATE PATROL VS JOHN DOE. If you go into the Ohio State Patrol filings, you can find the information, including location of offense. I have seen OVI arrests anywhere form I-90 to Robinwood Ave. to W. 117th St. Most of them appear to be off of I-90, however.

I'm out of town and still wondering; Stem was missed by the car. Another business, according to the article, was hit. The business owner was standing outside in the picture, being comforted by chief Gilman. Does anyone have any idea what business was hit?

Michael Loje wrote:I'm out of town and still wondering; Stem was missed by the car. Another business, according to the article, was hit. The business owner was standing outside in the picture, being comforted by chief Gilman. Does anyone have any idea what business was hit?

Michael

Just offices for a contractor flipping homes in the area.

Nothing people would know.

No name on the building, I know the owners.

.

The flipper working on our street drives 2 Mercedes, one for him, one for the old lady. Lucrative business, especially in Lakewood.

Amy Martin wrote:The flipper working on our street drives 2 Mercedes, one for him, one for the old lady. Lucrative business, especially in Lakewood.

Amy, both are Lakewood residents, and I have yet to see either of them in a Mercedes they own.

Flipping is a huge business in Lakewood.

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Jim, there are several houses on my street being flipped right now. The one closest to me is a husband/wife team, both drive Mercedes SUV's. I see them everyday as I'm walking the dogs.