Past week tough on defenseless Ohioans; Columbus eatery customers fight back

Cincinnati:
Violent murder seen as "public relations nightmare" for city

Police said Friday that a 17-year-old robbed Robbie Harris of cash before shooting him to death at Seventh and Vine streets about 12:20 a.m. Thursday.

"When a 17-year-old man leaves home with a gun, intent on doing a bad thing,
there is virtually nothing any of us can do to prevent it,'' Capt. James Whalen, commander of downtown police said.

Still, he insists downtown is safe. "Are you going to walk down the street and be confronted with a violent
crime downtown? No,'' Whalen said Friday from Jammin' on Main.

As one of the "folks battling to keep up the perception of safety so suburban residents feel comfortable attending events such as this weekend's Jammin' on Main music festival," it is likely Whalen would have told the same thing to the pizza maker, Mr. Harris.

For further proof of Whalen's empty promise, FLASHBACK to last year: Cincinnati crime wave threatens to shut down businesses

Dayton:
Trotwood man faces murder charge
A 19-year-old Trotwood man has been charged in the slaying of one of his neighbors, an 81-year-old man whose body was found in the detached garage behind his home last week.

Allen R. Beach is in the Montgomery County Jail on single counts of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, Capt. Dan Swafford said Wednesday.

The victim, Paul L. Boyer, was found in the garage at his home, 675 Olive Road, on May 6. He died as the result of blunt force trauma to his head, the Montgomery County Coroner's Office said.

Police: 3 year-old son with dad during robbery

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is pursuing a charge of felonious child endangering against a Dayton man accused of having his 3-year-old son with him while he helped rob a gas station Monday, sheriff's Sgt. Glen McIntosh said.

Dennis Jackson, 29, is in the county jail on one count of aggravated robbery and a misdemeanor count of endangering children, according to Common Pleas Court records.

Authorities were helped by a 34-year-old Centerville man who saw the suspects leave the gas station, followed them and flagged down an officer who was in the area, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies arrived at the Citgo about 7 p.m. after receiving a call about an armed robbery, Greco said. They were told that one man armed with a handgun entered the business and demanded money before assaulting the store clerk and running after taking an undetermined amount of money, Greco said. The clerk suffered minor injuries and did not require hospital treatment.

Detectives gathering more details about homicide
Scott Grove, 43, of 406 Michigan Ave., was found dead about 10:40 p.m. in an apartment complex parking lot near 1916 James H. McGee Blvd. Officers initially responded on the the report of an armed robbery.

Grove was in an area known for drug activity when a group of men demanded his wallet and money, Sgt. Gary White said.

"He was attempting to comply with that demand," White said. "The assault was simultaneous with the demand."

On the other hand...in Columbus:
Downtown chase ends when bystander shoves man through window
The "Ginsu bandit" may have met his match yesterday in a 34-year-old restaurant owner.

A knife-wielding man, now a suspect in 11 recent robberies, was captured after being chased through Downtown streets by Ricardo Spence, owner of Stats Cafe, and shoved through a window by a deliveryman.

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read an archived version of the story.

And yet Toledo police chief Mike Navarre says resistance is futile...

May 13, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

Owner of cafe helps nab robbery suspect

Ricardo Spence was slicing tomatoes when a man began rifling the cash register at his cafe.

The "Ginsu bandit" may have met his match yesterday in a 34-year-old restaurant owner.

A knife-wielding man, now a suspect in 11 recent robberies, was captured after being chased through Downtown streets by Ricardo Spence, owner of Stats Cafe, and shoved through a window by a deliveryman.

Roger Bass, 36, is charged with aggravated robbery in the incident and was being held in the Franklin County jail last night. Court records say he is homeless.

During the wild chase, police and witnesses said, the suspect attempted two carjackings, one involving a van that carried a 2 year-old girl.

Police Sgt. Shaun Laird credited Spence, the deliveryman and other citizens with helping catch the suspect. Detectives believe Bass is the man they have dubbed the Ginsu bandit because he committed his crimes with a large knife.

Yesterday’s episode began about 1:20 p.m. when a man entered Stats, walked behind the counter and began rifling through the cash register, police said.

It ended 15 minutes later with Bass bleeding on a sidewalk after being shoved through a window on the east side of the Bank One building.

Spence was slicing tomatoes behind the counter of his restaurant, at N. High and Long streets, when he noticed the man.

"I thought he was somebody I knew," said Spence, a father of two who has owned the cafe for 18 months. "But then he opened the register and I yelled, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ "

"He pulled out this big butcher knife and said, ‘Do you want to get hurt?’ I raised my knife — it was a bread knife — and said to him, ‘Do you want to get hurt?’ "

Spence described what happened next:

As stunned customers watched, the two men grappled behind the counter before the bandit ran toward the front door.

A nurse walking toward the restaurant saw the struggle and shoved her foot against the exterior of the door, temporarily preventing the man from escaping.

As the robber tried to open the door, he swung his weapon at Spence. "I picked up a chair and held him off like a lion tamer," Spence said.

The man then fled the cafe through a rear door that leads into the lobby of the adjacent Atlas Building.

His escape again was thwarted momentarily when Spence, still carrying his bread knife, jammed a revolving door along E. Long Street.

"I was yelling, ‘Robber! Robber! Call 911!’ "

A few minutes later, the robber slid through an opening, ran east on Long, north on Pearl Street and east on Lafayette Street, where he attempted to commandeer a van driven by a construction worker. The robber tried to open the door next to where the worker’s daughter was seated.

When that failed, the man ran south along N. 3 rd Street and attempted to carjack a sedan on E. Gay Street beside the Columbus hotel.

During a struggle with the car’s owner, an off-duty security guard who was getting in at the time, the robber bit the guard.

Unable to gain control of the car, the robber — still being chased by Spence — sprinted east on Gay Street and south on Lazelle Street. By this time, a patrol officer had joined the chase.

As the bandit ran along Lazelle, a deliveryman shoved him, sending him reeling into the bank’s window. Shards of glass sliced deep gashes in the suspect’s arm and head.

The police officer subdued him, and he was taken under guard to Grant Medical Center. "He was bleeding all over," Spence said.

"All through the chase I was angry," he said. "I was thinking, ‘I’m the last person this guy is going to rob.’ "

The man is a suspect in 10 other heists that began last Thursday, Laird said. The victims included small-business owners and pedestrians in the University District, Downtown and German Village, he added.

"The descriptions of the suspect and the weapon are very similar in all the robberies," Laird said.

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