Thursday, July 15, 1999
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Charges are dropped in dragging death
Prosecutors dropped an aggravated-murder charge and other charges Wednesday against a teen-age suspect in the Sharonville dragging death of Raymond Wells.
At a hearing in Hamilton County Juvenile Court to determine whether the boy should be tried in adult court, the 16-year-old learned he had been cleared of the charges.
“The investigation is widening,” assistant prosecutor Julie Stautberg said.
The teen, who is not being named by the Enquirer because he is a juvenile, was charged last week in the death of a Bond Hill man.
Mr. Wells, 18, was found dead June 28 about 10 miles from his home. He was dragged about 70 feet by a car.
Sharonville police served a search warrant last week on a dark brown 1975 Chevrolet Impala, searching for bloodstains, fingerprints and a knife that investigators think was used in the killing. An anonymous Crime Stoppers caller said a large brown car was used in the slaying.
Officers also were looking for “any evidence of a gang relation,” court records say. But officers collected no evidence in the search of the car.
Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon told the 16-year-old boy the dismissed charge does not mean his case is over.
While a Juvenile Court magistrate also dismissed charges against the boy of theft and receiving stolen property, prosecutors could bring more charges against him pending an investigation.
Ex-teacher convicted for affair with student
A former science teacher at Oak Hills High School was convicted Wednesday of misdemeanor charges involving his sexual relationship with a former student.
William Stergiopoulos, 55, of Green Township faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on each of three charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for having improper sexual contact with the girl. He had pleaded no contest, which means he admitted to the facts of the case and waived a trial.
The relationship began when she was 15 and continued for almost two years.The girl is now away at college.
Mr. Stergiopoulos voluntarily retired from his 30-year career and is unemployed.
Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation. He will be sentenced Aug. 25.
Two are arrested in Clermont robbery
UNION TOWNSHIP — A 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy were arrested Tuesday by Alabama authorities while driving an automobile taken in a July 12 robbery in this Clermont County township.
The pair, being held in Alabama on pending aggravated-robbery charges here, are identified as Mathew Sherman, 22, and Christopher Rue, 17, both of Nashville, Tenn., police said.
Police here said a woman, whose identity is being withheld, was attacked by two men at 11 p.m. Monday as she left a retail establishment in the 700 bock of Ohio Pike here. The assailants beat the woman, knocked her to the ground and drove off in her 1994 blue Honda. The woman suffered lacerations to her scalp and chin.
An investigation by Union Township detectives led to the suspects' identities and resulted in their apprehension by Alabama authorities on information provided through police radio broadcasts and bulletins. The arrests were made in Hoover, Ala., near Birmingham.
S. Fairmount man cuts deal in killing
Lester Johnson pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an Over-the-Rhine man.
Mr. Johnson, 35, had faced a murder charge and 20 years to life in prison until prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge to manslaugh ter in exchange for his plea.
Mr. Johnson, of South Fairmount, could be sentenced to 13 years in prison when he returns to court Sept. 9 for sentencing before Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh.
Prosecutors say Mr. Johnson shot and killed Clint Gardner on Nov. 15. Mr. Gardner, 26, was a single father from Over-the-Rhine.
Metro alerts riders to schedule change
Metro bus riders on reverse-commute Route 62 will have to change their routine by about 10 minutes in the afternoon and evenings.
Trips now leave the Tri-County Assembly of God Church in Fairfield at 3:48, 4:25 and 5:18 p.m., about 10 minutes earlier than before. Bus drivers need the extra time to get through traffic on Interstate 75 and get downtown on time. Downtown arrival times won't change.
For complete bus-riding information, call MetroCenter at 621-4455 from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Schedules are also on Metro's Web site at www.
sorta.com.
Man charged with holding up pharmacy
SPRINGDALE — A 38-year-old Milford man was arrested Wednesday shortly after he allegedly used a gun to rob a supermarket pharmacy.
Police charged Robert T. Doty, of the 700 block of McClelland Road, with aggravated robbery.
Police said the suspect approached the pharmacy counter in the Thriftway on West Kemper Road about 2:45 p.m., displayed a .22-caliber handgun, and demanded all the Oxycontin and Dilaudid pain medication.
The robber left the store through an emergency exit, got into a car and sped from the parking lot. Springdale Police Officer Jeff Witte noticed the car and followed. After hearing a radio broadcast describing the robber, Officer Witte stopped the vehicle in the parking lot of Showcase Cinemas on Springfield Pike.
The drugs and a gun were recovered from the suspect's car, police said.
Ten win beautification grants
Ten neighborhood beautification and anti-litter projects have won $200 grants from Keep Cincinnati Beautiful and United Dairy Farmers.
The competitive start-up funds are awarded annually. Winners are:
• Village Pride, for beautification of the Cleves business district.
• Colerain Community Association, for a gateway landscape at Interstate 275 and Colerain Avenue.
• Corryville Economic Development Corp., for a gateway from Van Street to Short Vine Street.
• Fairview School student council, for conversion of an empty lot into a community park.
• East Price Hill Improvement Association, for beautification of Dandridge Gardens in the area of a former incline.
• Mount Healthy, to create and beautify green space at its community entryway.
• Prospect Hill Home Owners Association, for beautification of Liberty Green.
• Riverside Civic and Welfare Club, for summer monthly community cleanups.
• Walnut Hills Community Council, to beautify an empty lot.
• West McMicken Improvement Association, to create a mosaic entry to community garden.
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Ex-cop draws prison in sex case
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Magic in the air at downtown's Omni
Area girls plan health conference for 2000
GET TO IT
Anglers cast lines for 'Big Bud'
Citizens panel to review Middletown charter
Court ruling protects state employees
Dispatch fees expected to rise without merger
Downtown parking on street more costly
Farmers' mart proposed for Cheviot
Fernald cleanup leaders want public involvement
GOP leaders question state contracts awarded
Judge delays decision on pawn shop robbers
Montgomery stormed for Bastille Day
More city workers learn to fight terror attacks
Schools face deadline for levies
Suicide ends long standoff
Three seats open on school board
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