Carpet cleaner gets 90 days for theft

LEBANON - A carpet cleaner who stole a customer's $2,500 engagement ring, swallowed it, then tried to hide the jewelry when it finally passed through him, was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Sean Hargrave pleaded no contest and was convicted in December of charges of theft and tampering with evidence.

In sentencing Hargrave in Warren County Common Pleas Court on Friday, Judge Neal Bronson also placed the 31-year-old Dayton, Ohio, man on probation for three years and gave him credit for 44 days he had already spent in the Warren County Jail.

Hargrave was arrested Aug. 6 after a Springboro woman noticed that her æ-carat diamond ring was missing as Hargrave cleaned her carpets.

Hargrave initially denied the theft and consented to an X-ray that showed the ring lodged in his digestive tract.

Anti-tax group to sue Hamilton Co.

An anti-tax group gave Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen notice Monday that it plans to sue over the county administrator's employment contract.

A letter from Chris Finney, attorney for the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, says Administrator David Krings' contract "was procured under fraud and corruption, and therefore is void and unenforceable."

The contract, passed Dec. 30, has raised questions from new Commissioner Phil Heimlich and others, largely because it includes a severance package worth at least $434,000 if Krings is ever forced out.

Sexual predator sent to prison for 2 years

LEBANON - A South Lebanon man with a history of sexual improprieties involving juveniles since 1983 was sent to prison for two years Monday for taking nude pictures of 17-year-old girls and giving them marijuana.

Edward R. Dorff, 43, apologized to the teens, as well as to his mother and daughter, as he stood before Judge P. Daniel Fedders for sentencing.

Fedders noted Dorff's conviction on sex charges involving a much younger girl in 1983, and said he thought Dorff was likely to offend again.

Fedders also ruled that Dorff was a sexual predator under Ohio law, a designation that requires Dorff to register his address annually with authorities for life.

Two men indicted on murder charges

A Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted two men on murder charges, accusing them of helping a Golf Manor man break into a Walnut Hills townhouse Jan. 24, where he was shot and killed by the homeowner.

Marcus Harris, 20, of Golf Manor, and Kenneth Sims, 28, of Price Hill, were each indicted on a charge of murder with felony specifications, two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of robbery and aggravated burglary. Although neither of them pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Michael Harris, the charge of murder was brought against the men because the death happened during the commission of a crime.

Corey Simley, the 29-year-old owner of the townhouse at 955 Auburn View Drive, shot Michael Harris four times minutes after he broke into the home at 8:19 a.m., according to police reports.

Student dance raised $2,119 for foundation

MASON - A student-organized dance raised $2,119 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Greater Cincinnati chapter.

Mason High School sophomore Julie Williams presented the check Monday to chapter director Patty Proctor and Marybeth Dowd, director of special events.

More than 300 students attended the Jan. 24 dance. Williams, 15, was inspired to help further research after meeting a teen with the genetic disease last summer.

Felony suspect found during traffic stop

What started as a traffic stop in Roselawn for illegally tinted windows ended with the arrest of a wanted felon caught with a gun.

District 4 Officers Ricky Hoskins and Monica Morosky noticed the windows a little before 10 p.m. Saturday in the 7000 block of Reading Road. They stopped the car and, approaching it, smelled marijuana, their report said.

The driver initially gave them another man's name, police said, in an effort to avoid being arrested on an outstanding warrant for aggravated robbery. The officers arrested Quinn Brown and found a loaded .38-caliber handgun under the seat and 12 grams of marijuana in the car.

Brown, 22, of Avondale, was arrested on the aggravated robbery warrant and also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, illegally having a weapon because of a prior criminal conviction, falsification and drug abuse.

- Compiled from staff and wire reports