Ohio's cities under seige; Senate leaders under cover

Cleveland Plain Dealer
09/18/03

Two Cleveland brothers who went on a springtime armed-robbery spree also robbed the city of a business, a visitor and its quality of life, their victims said yesterday.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Boyko agreed, and meted out unusually long sentences to Deshaun and Terry Scott: 20 years for 19-year-old Deshaun, and 27 for Terry, who is 21.

They admitted to two robberies in Collinwood on March 28, one targeting bread-truck delivery driver Douglas Wilson of Strothers and the other against Emanuel Bernadelli, 82, who has run Maxim's Foods on East 185th Street.

Six days later, afraid of beefed-up police patrols, the two crossed town and robbed a United Dairy Farmers store in Lakewood.

Police also believe the brothers and two accomplices probably were responsible for a half-dozen similar heists in Collinwood.

All three victims said the robberies scarred them, especially Wilson, who watched one of his assailants push a revolver into his chest and pull the trigger, to no effect. Wilson said he and his family no longer visit Cleveland, and he took a pay cut to drive a different route because of the trauma. Bernadelli said he plans to move Maxim's, a Collinwood institution for 55 years, to the suburbs.

City Councilman Michael Polensek railed against the two, saying they "terrorized my community," before asking Judge Boyko to give them the maximum sentence.

"What the two of you represent is a lessening of the quality of life in Cleveland," he said. "We're losing residents and losing businesses because of people like you.

"A message has got to be sent: This is not going to be tolerated."

Boyko sent it.

"When crimes of this nature occur in the community, it has a ripple effect," Boyko said before announcing the sentences. "Our community and its reputation take a dive."

Commentary:
Our state's reputation is taking a dive, as one of only 5 remaining in the nation without some legal mechanism for citizens to legally bear arms for self-defense.

Then again, who cares about reputations? There are lives being lost. There are businesses moving out of state or closing their doors. Consider these recent headlines:

Cincinnati: Is downtown safe?

Cleveland: Cleveland robberies send men to prison

Columbus: More people looking for ways to curb crime

Dayton: Fleeing carjacking victim shot in Dayton - AGAIN

Toledo: Toledo gun control laws amount to colossal failure

Meanwhile, the Senate's Republican leaders return to work at the Statehouse, seemingly intent on continuing their political protection of Bob Taft by obstructing Am. Sub. HB12 from being considered in a conference committee. This simply should not be.