Friday, September 10, 1999

Shopkeeper earned 'respect' in hard way

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Clifford's gun stopped robbery, left 1 teen dead

BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Eugene Clifford, owner of Clifford's Carry Out in Avondale, hands change to customer Kent Macky. (Glenn Hartong photo) ZOOM

        “Two Gun” Joe Bellamah's nickname has stuck, 22 years after he fought off would-be robbers by firing at them with a pistol in each hand.

        He still runs a Walnut Hills delicatessen and keeps guns hidden nearby.

        “No one bothers me anymore,” said the 74-year-old owner of Bellamah's Deli. “I've been up here 30 years, and even the bad ones, they kind of respect me.”

        Respect has come the hard way, too, for Eugene Clifford.

        A day after shooting a teen to death during a robbery of Clifford's Carry Out in Avondale, the door was wide open for business Thursday with Mr. Clifford behind the counter.

Anthony Mitchell

        “I imagine it's just taking care of business,” said Mr. Clifford, 60, a former iron worker who has run the place since 1984. “I'm sorry it hap pened. It just happened.”

        It was quick thinking, he said, that made him pull a gun from his safe and fire at three young men Wednesday morning as one of them held a gun to his wife's head in his neighborhood store.

        Anthony Santino Harris, 18, of Avondale, died from a gunshot wound to the neck. Two other teens are recovering from gunshot injuries and are expected to be held in juvenile detention upon release from the hospital, Cincinnati police said.

        Anthony Mitchell, 18, of Columbia Township, the alleged get-away driver, is being held at the Hamilton County jail in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond on an aggravated robbery charge.

        Mr. Clifford faces no charges. The homicide unit's investigation is continuing.

        In Avondale, customers at Clifford's greeted the owner with support.

        “I think he did what he had to do,” said Kent Mackey, 39, of Avondale. “This man has to live with killing a teen-ager on his conscience. I know this man, and he does what he can for the community.”

        But not everyone is hailing him a hero.

        “He got lucky,” said David Bernstein, spokesman for Handgun Control, the nation's largest gun-control organization.

        “We feel the dangers of carrying concealed weapons definitely outweigh the benefits,” he said. “Sometimes it's better safe than sorry, to hand over your money and get away with your life.”

        Cincinnati police try to stay out of the business of advising storekeepers about whether to keep guns, said Cincinnati Detective Richard Wullenweber, who formed a task force last year to solve a rash of armed robberies at small businesses in the area.

        “We tell people don't be afraid to call police,” he said. “If something feels wrong, it's probably wrong. This is what we do. We don't mind looking into suspicious situations.”

        Other shopkeepers applaud the way Mr. Clifford handled the situation.

        It's what George Waters of Florence did when the Taylor Mill pawn shop where he worked was held up in April 1998. He faked a heart attack, grabbed his loaded .45-caliber handgun from behind the counter and fired at the two bandits. He has since left the business.

        Also sharing the view from Mr. Clifford's side of the counter is Bob Mlinar, 54, an owner of two Cincinnati carryouts.

        His son was shot last year in a robbery. Mr. Mlinar was confronted in March by a teen with a fake gun. His Northside store was hit again last Saturday.

        “We are now armed,” he said. “Frankly, I look at what happened at Clifford's as it's finally justice. It's not happening in the courthouse.”

        The 14-year-old boy who punched him in the face in March was sentenced to juvenile detention for four weeks.

        “The frustration is the juvenile justice system only slaps these kids on the wrist,” he said.

        Next door to Clifford's, Catherine Coleman, 48, watches teens gather on the corner outside of Van Curen 1 Hour Cleaners, where she works. Her store operates with a buzzer system. She can decide when to unlock the door.

        When she looked out the window Thursday, the corner was vacant — a good sign, she said.

        “It's horrible that the kids took it upon themselves to do it,” she said of the robbery attempt next door. “It's horrible that one young man is dead. Maybe this will be a wake-up call to young people: Stop trying to get something for nothing.”

        “Two Gun” is still trying to get that message across. Still, his own son, Terry Bellamah, was shot in both legs two years ago when robbers held up the store while “Two Gun” was in Florida.

        He tries not to think about the time he injured intruders with gunshots. But he doesn't regret it.

        “Well, they did wrong, and I did right,” he said. “So I never did let it bother me.”

       

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