Thieves steal $18,000 cash from OH Supreme Court justice's car

The Associated Press is reporting today that a total of $18,000 in cash was stolen last week from the state car assigned to Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O’Donnell, prompting immediate questions from the
Columbus Dispatch and others:

Why did a Supreme Court justice have $18,000 sitting in his (state-owned) car?

By all accounts to this point, no one can answer the question, and the justice himself isn't doing much talking.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

From the Dispatch:

"I filed a timely police report, listing items of personal property taken, including money accumulated from my personal savings," O’Donnell said in a prepared statement released late yesterday.

O’Donnell said the car was broken into while parked in the Cleveland Flats for about four hours Feb. 16 while he was honored at an awards dinner at the Powerhouse as St. Edward High School’s 2004 Alumnus of the Year.

O’Donnell, 59, of Rocky River, did not say why he was carrying so much cash. He could not be reached for comment but told WOIO-TV (Channel 19) in Cleveland, "I’ve had a number of personal problems. I had taken some of my savings out. I had it with me. Just on a fluke this happened. It’s unfortunate. It’s very disturbing."

Lt. Wayne Drummond, spokesman for the Cleveland Police Department, said the report did not say where the cash was located in the 2000 Buick Park Avenue Ultra.

"I don’t know what’s going on with the justice," Drummond said last night, "but it’s unusual to have $18,000 in cash."

The newspaper goes on to quote Jason Mauk, spokesman for the state party Ohio Republican Party, as saying OhioGOP Chairman Robert T. Bennett doesn’t know why O’Donnell had that much cash in his car either.

The Dispatch indicates that other belongings worth $450 and a briefcase containing "private and special papers" also was taken.

Lt. Drummond told The Dispatch the car was not in a high-crime area of the city. WOIO-TV Cleveland noted that in 2002, high-powered weapons and a bulletproof vest were reported stolen from an FBI vehicle parked at the same location.

In its news coverage, the Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes O'Donnell's prepared statement as saying that "the matter is currently under investigation and I am confident in the authorities handling these matters."

But in yet another bizarre twist to this story, the Plain Dealer reports that police took no fingerprints as part of their investigation.

Lt. Drummond told the Plain Dealer he didn't know why this investigative step was skipped, but lacking this evidence reduces the chances that police will collar the thief.

This incident marks the second time in less than three weeks that a state-owned car and Supreme Court justice were involved in a criminal matter. On Jan. 31, the court's sole-remaining Democrat, Justice Alice Robie Resnick, was charged with driving under the influence in Bowling Green.

Court spokesman Chris Davey told the Dispatch he did not know why O’Donnell’s car contained $18,000 or whether the theft would be covered under a Supreme Court insurance policy.