Ohio News Briefs

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Police group opposes change to concealed-carry gun notice

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A statewide police group has announced its opposition to an Ohio bill that would cut the penalties for concealed-carry permit holders who don’t tell police that they have a weapon when they’re detained by authorities.

Jay McDonald, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, says officers should know whether a person they are approaching is armed.

McDonald said Monday there’s no reason law-abiding citizens should withhold the fact that they are concealed weapon permit holders.

The proposal in the Ohio House would reduce the penalty for not alerting police about the guns from a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine to a $25 fine.

Gun rights groups are hoping lawmakers do away with the penalties entirely.

Ohio court upholds use of evidence in illegal warrant search

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the use of evidence obtained by police who illegally enter a residence while executing a search warrant.

The court said in a 6-1 decision Tuesday that the “knock-and-announce” principle offers different protections than those in situations where police illegally enter a property without a search warrant.

Justice William O’Neill, writing for the majority, says the requirement that police announce their presence and explain their purpose is meant to protect residents surprised by the appearance of police.

O’Neill says throwing out evidence is the wrong response to police violation of that rule.

At issue was a 2012 search warrant executed in Boardman, in suburban Youngstown, during a drug investigation. Police battered down the door without saying they had a warrant.

Dad of boy who died after scalding bath sentenced to 7 years

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — The father of a 4-year-old Ohio boy who died after his stepmother put him in a scalding bath has been sentenced to seven years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.

Robert Ritchie was sentenced Tuesday in a Warren County court. Prosecutors say the Franklin man failed to get medical treatment that could have saved Austin Cooper’s life in March 2016.

Ritchie was convicted at his third trial after two mistrials and could have received up to 11 years in prison.

Ritchie’s attorney, Frank Schiavone III, argued Ritchie’s wife covered up her crime. Schiavone characterized Ritchie as another victim and “an abused man.”

Schiavone didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

Ritchie’s wife pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

Police: Man rushed at responding officers with tomahawk

CINCINNATI (AP) — Police near Cincinnati say a naked man tried to use a tomahawk and bayonet to attack officers responding to a call at a home and is now charged with felonious assault.

Colerain Township police say the 52-year-old man rushed toward officers and repeatedly asked them to kill him during the Oct. 1 confrontation outside a relative’s home. Instead, police body camera video captured officers using a stun gun and firing rounds of an irritant chemical with incapacitating effects similar to pepper spray.

They say the man was subdued and taken to a hospital. The officers weren’t seriously hurt.

Police had been called to the home on a report of a domestic conflict.

Colerain Township police Chief Mark Denney tells The Cincinnati Enquirer he thinks officers handled the dangerous situation well.

Police seek person who shot dog with arrow

WOOSTER, Ohio (AP) — Ohio police are searching for the person who shot a yellow Labrador retriever with an arrow.

Wayne County resident Chatfield Redick says a neighbor found his 9-year-old dog Cosmo with an arrow in his chest Wednesday afternoon near Wooster. Redick says Cosmo had gotten out of their yard after their invisible fence malfunctioned.

The Redicks say they had to take Cosmo to an animal clinic in Copley for an emergency surgery to remove the arrow. Redick says the veterinarian found the arrow missed Cosmo’s heart and lungs by millimeters.

Cosmo is now back at home and is expected to make a full recovery.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call.

Mom sentenced for pulling gun over barber’s too-slow haircut

CLEVELAND (AP) — A woman accused of pulling a gun on a Cleveland barber because he was taking too long to cut her son’s hair has been sentenced to six months behind bars.

Thirty-one-year-old Andrea Smith was sentenced Tuesday. She previously pleaded guilty to menacing, child endangering and carrying a concealed weapon.

Smith apologized at sentencing and acknowledged that she briefly pulled a handgun from her purse at a barber school in April and that she had no license to carry the weapon. But she denied waving it or threatening the barber as police alleged.

No one was hurt. Police say Smith put away the gun after another employee helped to calm her. The barber finished the haircut, and then Smith left with her children.

School district resumes high school football schedule

MANTUA, Ohio (AP) — A northeast Ohio school district that canceled two high school football games while police investigated whether a crime was committed during an unspecified incident says its high school will resume its regular football schedule.

Superintendent David Toth of Crestwood Local Schools confirmed Monday that the investigation at Crestwood High School in Mantua has been completed. Toth said he couldn’t provide details due to privacy laws.

Toth’s statement also said officials are “dealing with young student-athletes who have taken responsibility for their actions.”

The case has been presented to the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of any possible criminal charges.

The high school’s athletic director said Monday that the Red Devils’ football team will resume its regular season Friday when it travels to Rootstown to take on the Rovers.

Police officer who filed lawsuit against city fired

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An officer who filed a lawsuit against an Ohio police department alleging gender discrimination has been fired.

The attorney for Sgt. Tonina Lamanna says she was fired Oct. 3 after the city of Dayton accused her of being untruthful and filing false documents.

Lamanna’s firing came after she filed a civil lawsuit against the city seeking damages in excess of $75,000.

The woman claims in her lawsuit that she has been subjected to harassment since she filed her first complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in 2010.

Her attorney says she plans to appeal her firing and will file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for wrongful termination.

The city declined to comment.

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