70-year old woman assaulted/ carjacked in ''No-Weapons'' Kroger parking lot

8:16am Monday, May 24, 2004

Broad daylight in a Kroger victim zone...

Man Assaults 70-Year Old Woman, Steals Car

A 70-year old Tri-state woman is recovering Saturday night after a man assaulted her in a supermarket parking lot as he stole her vehicle.

Colerain Township police say Hazel Clemons was returning to her car at the Kroger on Colerain Avenue just before 1 p.m. Saturday.

A man approached her then threw her to the ground and took her keys.

Clemons was transported to Franciscan Hospital-Mount Airy for treatment of minor injuries.

The suspect - described as a white male in his 30s about 5-foot-10, heavyset with sandy blond, close-cut hair and wearing shorts and no shirt - fled the parking lot heading south on Colerain Avenue in the victim's car.

The suspect also has a tattoo on his left arm.

The the woman's car is a 1996 black Mazda with Ohio license plates, 694-LGA.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call the Hamilton County Sheriff's Patrol at 825-1500 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

Commentary:
This incident happened at one of the southwest Ohio Kroger stores where regional management have assumed protection responsibilities for customers by posting "No Weapons" signs.

Criminals, by definition, do not care about prohibitions, and will certainly ignore, or perhaps even be drawn to, stores that advertise that their customers' have been rendered defenseless by company policy. Not only will criminals know customers are disarmed IN a posted store, they will know you are disarmed coming out.

In an email to concerned patrons about discriminatory signs in their southwest Ohio stores, Kroger stated that the company "understand[s] your stance as a shopper and respect[s] your right to take it. However, our obligation to our valued customers is to not only provide them with quality products and services, but also a safe place to shop."

We've asked before, and we're asking again: Since Kroger believes it is "obligated" to create this safe place, will the company accept liability when defenseless citizens are hurt or killed in Kroger stores in the future. Is the store going to be paying damages to this elderly woman?

The problems in southwest Ohio result from the policy of ONE man: Mr. Bob Hodge, President of the Cincinnati Division of Kroger.

Hodge controls stores in parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Stores are not posted in the IN or KY stores under Hodge's control (although those states' laws certainly allow the company to do so, just as they so willingly point out Ohio's does), nor are they posted anywhere else in the country. This is true hypocritical behaviour. Mr. Hodge can be written at:

Mr. Bob Hodge
President, Cincinnati Division
150 Tri-County Parkway
Cincinnati OH 45246
513-782-3300

Hodge's boss is Company President David Dillon.

Kroger's national customer service number is 800-576-4377 or 866-221-4141. Click here to share comments online.

Ohioans are already being forced to learn that businesses on the Do Not Patronize While Armed list are dangerous places to be. Customers at no less than 3 banks and 2 stores on the list have experienced violent criminal encounters. And that's just the ones we know about...

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