Suspected heroin user found slumped over in car with foot on brake

By Lucas Sullivan | Friday, November 20, 2009, 12:33 PM

DAYTON - A 25-year-old man is facing a felony drug possession charge after officers and paramedics found him slumped over his running car’s steering wheel at a stop sign Thursday, Nov. 19.

Christopher Moats, 25

Christopher Moats told officers he injected heroin into his body and then must have passed out while driving, according to a police report.

His car was in drive when paramedics arrived, but his foot was on the brake, keeping the vehicle from moving, the report stated.

Officers found capsules in the car that contained heroin and one empty capsule, the report stated. Moats was taken to Montgomery County Jail on a felony drug possession charge and his car was impounded, the report stated.

He told officers on the way to jail he needed help with his heroin addiction, the report stated.

Permalink | | More: Bizarre crimes

Alleged drug dealer tells police he was helping Girl Scouts

By Lucas Sullivan | Friday, November 20, 2009, 11:50 AM

DAYTON - Task force agents with the Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence said they foiled a drug deal for Vicodin pills Thursday, Nov. 19, and made a more surprising discovery while searching the alleged seller’s SUV.

Lacory Adams, 28

The Dayton Police officers were patrolling the area of 2000 Needmore Road about 7 p.m. when they noticed Lacory Adams’ SUV parked near a sedan belonging to another man, according to a police report.

Adams was bent over, leaning on the other man’s car window, when officers pulled up to ask the men questions, the report stated.

Adams said he was selling the man 20 Vicodin pills for $50 and was selling drugs to help his daughter’s Girl Scouts troop, the report stated.

He gave officers consent to search his SUV, where they found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun with seven rounds, including one in the chamber, the report stated.

Adams, 28, said he and his girlfriend bought the gun at a recent “gun and knife show” for protection, the report stated.

The other man, 31, told the officers he needed the pills because he has back problems, the report stated. Both of the suspects’ cars were towed, and the men were taken to Montgomery County Jail.

Adams faces felony charges of carrying a concealed weapon and drug trafficking. The second man was later released from jail without charges being filed.

Permalink | | More: Drug busts

Hospital security helps arrest man who stole purse from pregnant patient

By Lucas Sullivan | Friday, November 20, 2009, 09:46 AM

DAYTON - A Miami Valley Hospital security officer helped arrest a man who was seen walking near the hospital with a black purse belonging to an expectant mother at the hospital.

Richano V. Fisher, 34

The officer noticed Richano V. Fisher, 34, carrying the bag about 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, and approached the man, asking what he was doing with the purse, according to a police report.

Fisher, who lives at 500 Bowie Drive, said he was getting the purse for his “baby’s momma” and was walking back to the hospital to give it to her, the report stated. The security officer asked Fisher to look inside the purse and noticed the identification inside belonged to a different woman, the report stated.

The officer determined the purse belonged a patient at the hospital and called Dayton Police officers to assist him with detaining Fisher, the report stated.

Inside the hospital, Dayton officers found the owner of the purse, who said it went missing about 11 p.m. after she and her husband fell asleep in her room, the report stated.

The woman’s husband, who declined to be named, said his wife was in the maternity ward at the hospital and Fisher came in while they were sleeping. He said they didn’t notice anyone come in the room and were shocked when hospital security notified them of the theft.

Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Thickel said she was checking into the incident about 1:30 p.m. and would release any details she could later this afternoon.

Outside Fisher became combative with officers, who transported him to Montgomery County Jail. Fisher is expected to appear in court Friday, Nov. 20, on a felony charge of receiving stolen property, according to jail records.

Court and jail records show Fisher is a habitual offender with numerous arrests for domestic violence, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and aggravated robbery.

Permalink | | More: Bizarre crimes

Man’s shooting death could be related to brother’s killing

By Lucas Sullivan | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 10:48 AM

DAYTON - Leads in the ambush-shooting death of Cornelius Maxwell Jr. have steered homicide detectives back to his brother’s 1997 slaying.

Lead homicide detective Sgt. Gary White said today, Nov. 18, “We are looking into the possibility of Cornelius’ murder being related to his brother’s murder in 1997. There is nothing solid at this time.”

White declined to say how the two killings might be related.

Cornelius Maxwell, 40, was shot more than a dozen times by a gunman who approached on foot while firing an AK-47 at his car Nov. 9, police said. Maxwell was on his way to work about 6 a.m. when the incident occurred in the 4700 block of Blueberry Avenue.

His death was the third homicide in four days. John R. Morgan, 36, was stabbed to death and Chad DeWitt, 23, shot during an alleged robbery attempt in unrelated incidents on Nov. 6.

In Cornelius Maxwell’s killing, White said the gunman might have known his routine and was waiting. Maxwell, who served time in the U.S. Army in the early 1990s, lived with his parents, police said.

His brother, Eric Maxwell, was shot in similar fashion in 1997, though no one was ever arrested. His homicide investigation remains open, White said.

Morgan’s killer also remains at large. Police said the man who killed DeWitt was acting in self defense.

Permalink | | More: Homicides, Shootings

Officers find exposed man passed out on front steps

By Lucas Sullivan | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 10:25 AM

DAYTON - A 30-year-old man is facing a misdemeanor public indecency charge after officers found him passed out on the front steps and partially nude Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Matthew D. Emrick,30

Residents at 30 S. Terry St. said they were trying to help Matthew D. Emrick about 5 p.m. because he was acting strange, but they called police when he became uncooperative, according to a police report.

By the time officers arrived, Emrick was passed out on the front steps and had urinated, the report stated.

Emrick woke up and became combative, swearing at officers and reeking of alcohol, the report stated. He was arrested and transported to the Montgomery County Jail.

Permalink | | More: Bizarre crimes

City wants train-trestle bridge used by homeless torn down

By Lucas Sullivan | Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 09:47 AM

DAYTON - City officials are in discussions with the Norfolk Southern Railway Corp. to tear down an abandoned train trestle bridge now used as a tent-housing complex by the area’s homeless.

Engineers from the city and the railway company examined the bridge that runs over South Patterson Boulevard, just south of Apple Street within the last two weeks, city spokesman Tom Biedenharn confirmed Monday, Nov. 16.

Biedenharn said no decision has been made yet about the bridge coming down.

Homeless pitch their tents on an abandon rail road trestle near the Vietnam Memorial Park in Dayton.
Staff photo by Jim Noelker

A call to Norfolk Southern seeking comment Monday afternoon has not yet been returned. The company owns the bridge and must give the go-ahead to have it torn down, city officials said.

The bridge for years has been a home to homeless people who refuse to stay in area shelters, police said. Numerous tents have popped up on the bridge, though police on more than one occasion have tried to chase the vagabonds off.

Norfolk Southern officials were reportedly taken aback by the conditions on the bridge and are open to having it torn down, city officials said.

The bridge was also home to James Cundiff, 42, a homeless Tier III sex offender recently indicted for numerous attacks on women.

Police have said many living in the tents on the bridge refuse to stay in area shelters because of the rules they must follow.

Permalink | | More: Crime prevention

Cab driver finds missing 3-year-old on street corner

By Lucas Sullivan | Monday, November 16, 2009, 10:50 AM

DAYTON - A Dayton family is giving special thanks to a taxi driver who found a 3-year-old toddler that slipped out the back door and was wandering the streets Saturday, Nov. 14.

The child slipped out his house on Tip Top Avenue about 7 a.m. and was standing on the corner of Wayne and Holly avenues when taxi driver Paul Duncan noticed him, according to a police report.

Duncan put the boy in his cab and called the police. The boy was wearing a T-shirt, cotton pants and socks and couldn’t tell officers where he lived, the report stated.

Officer started going door to door asking if anyone was missing a boy, but no one claimed him, the report stated.

About 7:50 a.m. Sally Fryman called police and said her son was missing. Officers also made contact with the boy’s father Bobby Bennett, who was “frantically” combing the neighborhood for his son, the report stated.

Bennett said the boy knows how to unlock the back door and when he couldn’t find his son he noticed the back door was ajar, the report stated. The boy appeared to be missing for about 20 minutes before the cab driver noticed him.

Bennett said he was going to install new locks that day, the report stated. No one was charged with a crime and the boy was fortunately OK.

Permalink | |