CRASH SEND 3 TO ALLEN HOSPITAL

“I saw the red car stopped on the road, they were waiting to turn into this parking lot then I noticed them backing up at that point I veered to the right. That is when I heard the crash. When I looked over I saw the truck sliding and rolling so I pulled over cause I was afraid I might get hit.”

Those are the words of a driver who witnessed a two car crash on Rt. 58 just north of Rt. 303 this afternoon. The Wellington Fire District responded and secured the scene for the Paramedics from Central Lorain County Ambulance District. Firefighters and Paramedics treated the victims before they were transported to Allen Memorial Hospital Emergency room. Ed Morgan who was selling fresh produce on Rt. 58 right where the crashed occurred said he heard the crash and quickly went to the scene to see if he could help.

“I went over to the truck that was on its side, I was able to talk to the lady inside and when I discovered that she was alert and talking I got some people that were there with me and we rolled the car back on its wheels. After we got it flipped back over I took the fuses out of the car so a fire wouldn’t start, and the horn was blowin too.”

COUNTY EMA GOES INTO ACTION WHEN PHONES GO DOWN

When the phones went down in the city on Friday afternoon the hardest working man in the county was contacted. Tom Kelley, Director of the Lorain County Office of Emergency Management and Director of Homeland Security, was contacted by the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department at 5:15 informing him of the situation. Kelley responded to the Sheriff’s Department in the county’s communication truck by 5:30 and met with Capt. Resendez to monitor the situation. The county 9-1-1 system never went down and the phone lines at the Sheriff’s Department as well as Kelley’s offices were not affected.

"Cell phones either didn't work or were overloaded because people turned to using them. Internet service was affected also. Ohio State Patrol post 47's new radio system (MARCS which stands for Multi-agency radio communications system) was down because it requires T1 internet connections to work. They had to rely upon the Medina County post to relay traffic."

"We had 2 hand held satellite phones and one fixed unit in the county's Emergency Operations Center which still did work - and those were made available to the Sheriff's Department if needed. Amateur radio operators were available to deploy to emergency organizations if the 9-1-1 had gone down to rely calls - but they weren't needed."

Windstream has stated that a fiber optic line was cut on accident and that the service was restored within an hour.

PHONES OUT IN ELYRIA - CITYWIDE

Elyria businesses and residents were without phone service citywide Friday afternoon. TMC NEWS has learned that a fiber optic line was cut on accident and the service was down for about an hour.

LORD BYRON NELSON

1912 - 2006

Byron Nelson, who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including 11 in a row, both records that still stand, died Tuesday at age 94. Nelson finished his career with 52 PGA Tour victories, including two Masters victories, one U.S. Open win and two PGA Championships. Doctor's say that Nelson died of natural causes.

FIRE ON QUARRY ROAD

Wellington Fire District responded to an alarm call on Quarry Road near Hughes Road early Tuesday morning. When they arrived they discovered a structure fire in what appears to be an abandoned home. Wellington Fire, with mutual aid from Lagrange Township, Camden Township and Oberlin Fire Department fought the blaze and brought it under control in under an hour. A water shuttle was set up on the roadway while water tankers would fill up at the Wal Mart on Rt. 20 & Rt. 58 and bring it in for the firefighters on the scene.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

VANDALS STRIKE NORTHEST ELYRIA

Vandals struck on two streets on the northeast side of Elyria overnight Saturday, spray painting cars, houses, streets and even a Chronicle Telegram box. Residents woke up to find the word “Blood” on their homes and cars up and down Thornwood and Rosewood off North Abbe Road. One resident on Rosewood had the word “rapist” on their garage door next to the words “Blood gang”. Elyria Police took reports from all of the residents involved and are investigating. Residents could be seen attempting to clean the paint off their property in time to watch the Brown’s game Sunday afternoon.

Anyone with any information on this case are encouraged to contact the Elyria Police at 440-323-330

UGH, IT'S HALLOWEEN ALREADY?

Next time you go to Cobblestone in Sheffield make sure you honk at Ryan and Derek Messer if they are standing on the corner in costume. They were spotted today, Ryan as a slice of pizza and Derek as a blow pop, promoting a Halloween store located on the Cobblestone property. When asked if it was their family’s store they replied, and try to follow along, “It’s our mom’s friend’s sisters store”. Ryan and Derek can be seen now until Halloween on Thursday’s through Sunday’s. Today they were putting in a 5-hour day but most days can be seen for 2 or 3 hours.

LETTER FROM THE PIERCE FAMILY

The following letter was sent to TMC NEWS by the family of Shelia Pierce. We are posting it unedited and in its entirety. We hope you take a moment to read it.


Sheila was taken from us on Sept. 16, 2006. She was laid to rest on Sept. 20, 2006. Her last wishes were honored. We were fortunate enough to be able to lay her to rest knowing that the man that did this to her was in jail. While that does not make anything any better, or bring her back to us, it gave us a little bit of peace knowing at least that much had gone our way.

Shelia was loved very much & will be missed dearly. She was a thoughtful, caring woman who would give you anything she had if you needed it or help in anyway that she could. She was out on the road late that night because she had been with her sister who was taken to Lorain Community’s emergency room. She left once her sister had been admitted to the hospital. She had been where she felt she needed to be. Unfortunately, there was a drunken man out on the road at the same time, driving, and not where he needed to be. He took her from us - no chance to say the things you never said, no chance to tell her you loved her one more time, no chance to hear her laughter again - no chance for anything other than to grieve and try to wrap your mind around what happened, how it happened, and why. We take peace in knowing that she did not suffer. We try & hold on to the little things that we can. We try & burn our last memories in to our brains, so that they will never fade. The sad part is that it is clouded by one man's inability to use good judgment or to learn from his past. Followed by the memories of shrieks of woman, the cries of grown men, the questions from the children who don't understand why she can't wake up, the pain in every person's eyes and the reality that there will never be another visit, email, phone call, hug, smile...that she is gone forever.

We have remained silent, publicly, trying to come to grips with our loss. There have been many tears shed, many stories told and many cards & phone calls of sympathy. We appreciate all of it and it is a reminder to us of how much Shelia meant to not only us, her family, but to all of her friends and how many strangers have taken the time to care & grieve with us. When anyone loses someone they love, it is very difficult. With Shelia’s death being so public, it has both helped & hurt. You feel as though you are not given the ability to choose the time in which you need, for yourself, to grieve and go through the motions. You feel as though a timeline has been set for you. At the same time, it allows you to realize that the world is still full of many caring people.

We were given the opportunity to view the video prior to it being released publicly. It was very difficult for us to see the moment that she was no longer with us. But we were grateful that the Amherst Police Department gave us the opportunity to see it ahead of time so we could try and prepare ourselves for what may lie ahead.

We hope that Mr. Stern is punished to the fullest extent of the law and that now that he's sober, that he understands what he has robbed us of. We hope that no one forgets what happened and we hope the next time that someone decides that they are going to drink & drive that they stop and remember what happened early Saturday morning, Sept. 16, 2006, to our mother, grandmother, wife, sister, aunt, and friend.

Sincerely,

Allen Jr., Stacey & the rest of the Pierce Family

AMHERST POLICE DISCUSS CRASH

On Friday afternoon the Amherst Police Department released the dash Cam video from last weekend’s crash to the media. During the press conference Amherst Police Lt. Joseph Kucirek spoke about the traffic stop, the crash and the policy of pursuits.

The Stop
The officer who initiated the stop is on the left side of Mr. Stern’s vehicle and the K-9 officer is on the right side. During the conversation between Mr. Stern and the officer, heard on the video, the officer was asking him about insurance cards, at one point Stern said he couldn’t find it but the officer asked Stern what the Geiko card was in his hand. A moment later the officer asked Stern if he could step out of the vehicle, Stern quickly replied no. Stern told he officer that there was no reason for him to get out of the car. The officer advised him that he wanted to speak further with him and then advised that by law he can have anybody step out of a vehicle during a traffic stop. Stern continued to argue with the officer, at this point the K9 officer is seen on tape going back to his vehicle to retrieve a slim-jim, a device used to unlock a car door. The first officer continues to speak with Stern while the K9 officer is away from the vehicle. During that conversation Stern suggested that the officer had followed him looking for a reason to pull him over, an accusation that the officer denied to Stern. Stern told the officer that he was on his way to his dad’s house on Narragansett in Lorain. When the K9 officer got back to the passenger side of Sterns vehicle you can seen in the video the brake lights light up and then Stern begins to pull away. As Stern begins to pull away the first officer strikes the driver’s side window twice with his flashlight, breaking it on the second hit but Stern is able to pull away from the officers.

The pursuit
As Stern pulled away from the stop both officers got in their cars to follow Stern to attempt to stop him again. Believing that Mr. Stern was impaired they felt he was a danger on the roadways. The speeds of the officer’s cars were approximately 50 to 60mph. You are able to see towards the end of the tape that Stern speeds up and pulls away from the officers. During the pursuit the first officer remains calm giving his speed and road conditions to the dispatcher. The officer is also heard advising that the traffic light. The police calculated the speed of Sterns truck to be a minimum of 65mph at the point of impact.

The Officers Involved
As far as the officers and their involvement, obviously any use of force or pursuits, or any use of physical use of force is investigated by the department administratively. That investigation took place and there was no wrong doing found on behalf of the initiating officer or the supervisor that night. In fact had they chose not to do anything after the driver left the scene they would have most likely faced disciplinary actions for failing to intervene in a suspected impaired driver.

Pursuit Policy
The policy is very detailed, but basically for normal chases where people don’t want to pull over a lot of things come into play. The condition of the vehicle they are pursuing, the condition of their own vehicle, have they suffered any damage, the time of day, the traffic conditions, the road conditions, if the suspect is believed to be a juvenile or not, all these things play a factor. In this incident, the officers were found to be polite at the time of the traffic stop, they were in control of their adrenaline during the pursuit and they were relaying the road conditions, they were relaying the speed, they were relaying the traffic conditions as per policy.
When a driver is impaired we have an exception to our policy that states that you have to do something to try and intervene and that is what these officers were doing. An impaired driver, historically and especially recently the publics had an outcry for law enforcement, the courts and the justice system to do something with impaired drivers.
A question came up of the legality of getting the slim-jim and forcing their way into the car and even breaking out the window. The courts have upheld that law enforcement has the right to up their force on a resistance, he was not complying with the officers, the officers took it up one level and attempted to use a slim-jim to get into the vehicle and that failed, the officer when the driver put the car into drive tried to break out the window and was going to go hands on with the driver and try to do something, open the door, keep him from leaving, that was unsuccessful. The only thing that they had left to do at that point was to do nothing or to get in their cars and use their lights and sirens to warn traffic and attempt to get the driver to stop.


I think the one good thing about bringing this to the media is that some people will see the end results and think twice before fleeing from the police. A DUI charge or even a second DUI charge is a lot less then an aggravated vehicular homicide charge. As you know the DUI statistics have gone down because it’s been so tough, the system has been so tough on DUI drivers and the courts have been so tough and law enforcement has been so tough on DUI drivers that DUI accidents and alcohol related crashes have gone down in our area for sure. So it is having a positive effect the bad part is that things like this still do happen.

POLICE RELEASE DASH CAM VIDEO

Amherst Police Department released the dash cam video from the crash that killed Shelia Pierce of Grafton last weekend. The video shows Officer Perez asking Phillip Stern about his insurance information while a second officer watched from the passenger side. Stern, who only opened his driver side window a little bit, was difficult with the officer throughout the stop and when he was asked to step out of the vehicle he refused then took off from the officer. Both officers returned to their cars and followed Stern in an attempt to stop him again. Total time from the time Stern fled the officers until the impact at Leavitt and Cooper Foster was less than one minute.

TMC NEWS has posted the dash cam video in our SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT section and will leave the video up for one week then it will be removed from our site.

We caution you before you view it that the collision is graphic and may be disturbing. To view the video: CLICK HERE

LORAIN FATAL CRASH

“I think he’s dead, I think he’s dead.” Those were the words from one of the first witnesses on the scene of a fatal crash late Thursday night in Lorain. A car traveling east on East 42nd Street at a very high rate of speed first struck a truck then the curb at the corner of East 42nd and Seneca Ave before crashing into a tree.

Lorain Police, LifeCare Ambulance Paramedics and Lorain Fire Department all responded to the scene around 11:45pmm Thursday night but there was nothing that could be done for the driver who was trapped in the car. Approximately and hour later the driver was removed from the car and transported from the scene as Lorain Police continued with their investigation.

Harold Martin said he was sleeping at the time of the crash but his wife was sitting at the kitchen table playing cards. “She was just playing a game of solitaire when she heard the crash and she looked out and saw that it was right there in our yard.” Martin said that he has lived in that house for 13 years and although speeding and running stop signs is a constant problem in his neighborhood, nothing like this has ever happened before. “This is just something else; I guess it was only a matter of time.”

To see all photos: Click Here

NEW IN TMC NEWS: OP-ED

A local Police Officer speaks out about the fatal crash in Amherst last weekend. Check today's TMC NEWS: OP-ED

EARLY MORNING HOUSE FIRE

With reports of cooler temperatures last night Daryl Moss and his wife Brenda decided to christen the fireplace in their new home on North Murray Ridge Road. The Moss’ bought the home 6 months ago but moved in about 2 months ago. When Daryl woke up this morning for work around 4:45 he heard crackling coming from the front room, he quickly investigated and discovered the front of his new home was on fire. Daryl woke Brenda up to get out of the house. On the way out they grabbed their dog Lucky and a few framed photographs off the wall near the door, all made it out of the house safely.

Elyria Township Fire Department, with assistance from Amherst, Sheffield Village, Sheffield Township and Lorain Fire fought the blaze and got it under control quickly.

OPRAH CREW IN COURT STREET

While getting lunch this afternoon at my favorite eatery, Court Street Café, I spotted a film crew shooting inside the restaurant. TMC NEWS was able to confirm from Harpo Productions that it was indeed a crew shooting for an upcoming Oprah Winfrey special where they will profile the story of Jessica Coleman.

Jessica Coleman was convicted last February of killing her new born son in 1999. Coleman, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was sentenced to serve 6 years in prison by Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward Zaleski. The babies father and Coleman’s boyfriend at the time, Thomas Truelson Jr., was sentenced to serve two years in prison for throwing the baby into a Quarry in Columbia Township.

ARRESTED, BOOKED & ARRAIGNED

Amherst Police traveled to Cleveland Metro Hospital Tuesday afternoon to serve a warrant on Phillip W. Stern II. Mr. Stern was the driver of the red pick up truck that collided with Shelia Pierce in Amherst last Saturday morning on Cooper Foster & Leavitt Rd, killing Pierce.

The following charges have been filed against Stern:
1. Driving In Marked Lanes in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.33 (MM),
2. Obstructing Official Business in violation of Ohio Revised Code 2921.31 (Felony 5),
3. Willful or Wanton Disregard of Safety on Highways in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.20 (MM)
4. Operating Vehicle Intoxicated in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.19 (M1),
5. Failure to Comply with order or signal of police officer in violation of Ohio Revised Code
2921.331B (F3),
6. Speed in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.21 (MM)
7. Red Light in Violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.13 (MM),
8. Failure to Control in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.202 (MM)
9. Aggravated Vehicular Homicide Ohio Revised Code 2903.06
(Felony 2)
10. B.A.C. over legal limit (.238BAC) Ohio Revised Code 4511.19 (M1)
11. State OVI (refusal) in violation of Ohio Revised Code 4511.19 (M1)

The suspect was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Lorain County Jail where he is still being held. Stern was arraigned in Oberlin Municipal Court this morning and is being held on $500,000.00 bond.

WILLIE, SAY IT AIN'T SO!

From the TMC NEWS File: “Who would have thought”?

Country music legend Willie Nelson cited for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a traffic stop Monday in Louisiana. The State Police issued a news release stating that during a commercial vehicle inspection troopers noticed a strong smell of marijuana. “When the door opened and the Trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana” One and a half pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of narcotic mushrooms were found on the bus during a search according to the news release. Four others on the bus were issued misdemeanor citations and released at the scene.

Anyone surprised by this incident? We’d like to hear from you.

TMC NEWS: OP-ED

Since we posted the Amherst Crash story some people have been leaving comments that the Amherst Police should not have chased Mr. Stern. One reader, who remained anonymous of course, said that the Police could have prevented the death of Mrs. Pierce. That statement is simply ridiculous.

Visit our OP-ED section to see our opinion and to leave yours.

SHUT IT DOWN

Shut it down! Those were the words to the Apple Festival vendors from the Elyria Police 20 minutes before the scheduled closing time on Saturday night. The decision was made due to a number of fights that were breaking out in Ely Square. Some of the vendors were not real happy about it because they still had a line of customers. One vendor said, “I understand the decision by the police but what I want is for the kids who were fighting to come over and pay me the money I am losing”. Another vendor who witnessed some of the fights said she was happy to hut down early. “Better to be safe then sorry, if the police didn’t shut it down and something bad happened then people would be asking why they didn’t." Some people didn’t even know about the fights due to the quick actions and strategic positioning by the Elyria Police, Park Rangers and Auxiliaries.

You can share your thoughts or stories about your trip to this year’s festival here.

AMHERST CRASH KILLS GRAFTON WOMAN

Mr. Phillp Stern II, is seen in the red shirt being treated by LifeCare Ambulance at the scene of the fatal crash early Saturday morning.

Amherst Police Lt. Joseph Kucirek provided the following Press Release to the media in regards to the early morning crash at Copper Foster and Leavitt.

On Saturday, September 16, 2006, at approximately 0106hrs, Amherst Police observed a red in color Ford Ranger traveling northbound on North Main Street. While traveling behind the vehicle in question, the officer witnessed the suspect vehicle weaving from east to west within its lane of travel. While the officer continued to travel behind suspect vehicle, the driver began swerving to the west and crossed over the center double yellow line on three occasions. At one point the driver remained left of center for approximately 2 tenths of a mile before eventually swerving back to the east entering back into its proper lane of travel. The driver then continued swerving to the east and crossed over the white edge line.

A traffic stop was effected and the driver was identified as Mr. Phillip Stern II, age 33 of Lorain. Mr. Stern exhibited signs of being intoxicated and was uncooperative. After attempting to get Mr. Stern to exit the vehicle, he refused and fled from the scene while still in the vehicle.

A short pursuit ensued with Mr. Stern traveling eastbound on Cooper Foster Park Road and approaching a red traffic light at the intersection of Leavitt Road. A vehicle, driven by Shelia J. Pierce, 51 of Grafton, was southbound on Leavitt Road was struck by Mr. Stern’s Ford Ranger on its passenger side. As a result of the collision, Mrs. Pierce suffered fatal injuries.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damages. The Amherst Fire Department was contacted to extricate both drivers from their vehicles and there were no other occupants n either vehicle.

The incident remains under investigation and charges against Mr. Stern are pending.

To see all photos from this crash: CLICK HERE

RIDING FOR CHARITY

Bikers rolled into Lorain today for the 3rd annual Michaela Foisy Fund Poker Run. Pete Wiegand, the event organizer, said that the poker run raises money to assist families with medical needs.

“What it originally was started for was to assist a fellow firefighter’s family whose 1 year old daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. The money we raised then went to help pay their parking fees at the Cleveland Clinic, for meals and other miscellaneous expenses that they would run into. Then when Michaela went into remission and the family no longer needed the money we kept it going for other families for the same purpose. We have received calls from all over the country requesting support for families in need. The fund has been dwindling a little so I am glad that the money from today will all go directly into the fund to strengthen it for future needs.”

Wiegand says that he gets a lot of support from his fellow Lorain Firefighters and from the community as well. Caruso Cabinets is a title sponsor who donated a mini chopper to be raffled off at today’s event. There are other events throughout the year to raise money but Wiegand, a biker himself, says that he will continue organizing the Poker Run.

To see all photos: CLICK HERE

POLICE CHASE ENDS IN COLLISION

To see more pictures from this crash: CLICK HERE

“It was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life.” Scott Sutton was in the Super K parking lot in Amherst when he heard sirens coming from the west on Cooper Foster, when he looked he saw the Amherst police chasing a red truck east on Cooper Foster heading toward Leavitt at a very high rate of Speed. Other witnesses put the speed of the red truck in excess of 65mph. Josh Murray who was also in the Super K parking lot said that a green car was south on Leavitt turning east onto Cooper Foster when the red truck collided with it. “When the truck hit the car we just heard a loud explosion kind of noise then there was glass and stuff from the cars flying all over the place”. Jeff Ross who was coming out of the Sunoco gas station said he could hear the engines over the sirens. “I worked on an ambulance for four years and this didn’t have to happen, once the police had the tag they should have just stopped the chase.”

Amherst Firemen worked to extricate the victim from the green car then the paramedics from LifeCare Ambulance began treating the victim. They rushed the victim to Community Health Partners West Campus Emergency room where the condition was not known at the time of this report. The driver of the red truck was able to get out of his vehicle on his own. He was also treated by LifeCare Paramedics.

The crash is being investigated by the Amherst Police Department.

THEY CAME TO SEE

By bus, car, van, RV or truck, thousands of people traveled to Butternut Ridge Road in Eaton Township late last night at the chance of seeing the Blessed Mother.

“The Blessed Mother’s Next Promised Appearance September -14-15, 2006. Blessed Mother has promised to appear once again to Maureen Sweeney-Kyle just after midnight at the Field of the United Hearts on the crest of the feast of the Triumph of the Cross and the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.” From the Holy Love website

Well, they came in chartered buses early to get a good seat in the field to see if the Blessed Mother would really appear at midnight. TMC NEWS interviewed several people as they were leaving and although all said they did not actually see anything they believed they felt the “presence”. “I traveled a long way to be here tonight and I felt her here with us, it was well worth the trip”. This lady would not give her name; she would only identify herself as one of the pilgrims.

We tried to speak with an official of Holy Love but were told that nobody would be available for comment.

$20,483.00 & CLIMBING

$20,483.00 and climbing, that is the amount raised so far from last weekends benefit for the Allan “Buzz” Anderson Memorial Fund. Steve Hall, event organizer, told TMC NEWS that it had been reported through another news source that the event had only raised a little over $5,000.00 and people started asking him where his new Corvette was.

“This amount of money was raised because of the hard work and generosity by so many people in the community. It is very important that people know what the true amount is so they know that all of their hard work was worth it." Steve Hall

A portion of that total was raised by 10 different fire departments paying entry fees into the Water Fight competition. The competing departments were: Wellington, Vermilion, Wakeman, Eaton, Berlin Heights, Rochester, Lagrange, Florence, Sullivan and Camden Township.

1st Place: Wakeman
2nd Place: Berlin Heights
3rd Place: Vermilion

ATTENTION BIKERS

This Saturday is the 3rd annual Michaela Foisy Fund Poker Run.

The Run is sponsored by the Lorain Firefighters Local 267 and Caruso Cabinets with all proceeds going to the Michaela Foisy Fund. The Run will start at Lorain Fire Station #7 at 2111 West Park Dr. with the first bike scheduled to go out at 11am. The Run will end at Willowcreek Party Center at 3056 Reeves Ave. Entry is $20.00 per bike / $25.00 with rider. Prizes include: $150.00 for best hand and $50.00 for worst hand.

For details contact Pete Wiegand (440) 204 2171

TMC NEWS will be “In The Community” again covering this very worthwhile event. We hope to see you there.

ANDERSON BENEFIT A SUCCESS

For complete coverage and interviews, vistit: "In The Community" The Anderson family (all in black t-shirts) takes the stage during the opening cremony as Steve Hall (far left) kicks off the event with some opening words.

The Lorain County Fair Grounds filled up Sunday with people who wanted to honor the memory of Allan “Buzz” Anderson and to also show their respect and support for the family he leaves behind.

The weather was perfect for the guests who were entertained by The Southern Star Band, Water Fight Competition between 10 different fire departments and a car show with over 300 entries. To see pictures from the event CLICK HERE.

We invite you to vist our "In The Community" section for a complete run down of the event along with interviews that you won't want to miss.

TMC NEWS would like to thank the Anderson family, Chief Bob Walker and the Wellington Fire Department family and Steve Hall for allowing us to be a part of this special event.

STEVE IRWIN KILLED BY STINGRAY

Steve Irwin, better known as the “Crocodile Hunter”, was killed after being stung by a Stingray Barb that went through his chest. Irwin was filming an underwater documentary off the Australia North Coast at the time of the incident.

WILD CHASE THROUGH ELYRIA

Elyria Police responded to what they initially thought was a car-jacking in downtown Elyria his afternoon. The incident started in the area of the License Bureau on Broad Street near Cedar. The vehicle reported taken was a 1993 silver mini van and was last seen heading east on Broad Street. A citizen saw the van and called the police with the directions until police were able to catch up to them. Once behind the van the driver stepped things up by driving through yards as he ended up on a dead end street. The driver of the van was then able to elude the police for a little while until a resident on Garford Ave notified the police that the van was in the woods behind their house near East Rec. While police were searching the area a Lorain County Sheriff’s Deputy was approached by a man in the East Rec parking lot on Prospect near Baldwin Ave, the man told the deputy that his silver mini van was stolen from the East Rec parking lot about an hour earlier. It was quickly discovered that the man speaking to the deputy was the suspect in the incident on Broad Street. The man had taken off the red shirt he had been wearing and left it on the floor of the mini van, it was later discovered. Elyria Police had a witness drive by the parking lot to identify the suspect that they had in custody.

There is still questions about what all happened at the incident on Broad Street and at the time of this posting the Elyria Police Department did not have a report ready for release.

WAR MEMORIAL DEDICATION

Veterans and dignitaries spoke today at the dedication ceremony of the Elyria War Memorial in Ely Square in downtown Elyria. The rain did not keep people away or dampen anyone’s spirit as the long awaited Memorial was revealed. Hundreds of people sat under umbrellas and listened to speakers dedicate the new memorial. As I listened to the speeches and tried to pull a line or two our for this report I couldn’t find any, even though they were all very good and heart felt, that topped one that I found inscribed on the Memorial itself.

“You’ve never lived
‘til you’ve almost died…

for those who fought for it,
life has a flavor the protected
will never know.”

Scribed on a c-ration container by a soldier during the Vietnam War

To see all photos from todays dedication: CLICK HERE

SCOOPS & DEVITO

Last Wednesday Janice Susak, owner of Scoops & More on Lake Ave, noticed a short gentlemen walk up to the store window. She turned to her dad and said I’ll be right back; I have to go wait on Danny Devito. She was joking of course, but then to her surprise she got to the window and it really was him. Devito and his wife, actress Rhea Pearlman, were in town earlier this week on family business and decided to stop by the ice cream stand for a treat. Susak said the couple couldn’t have been nicer. “We talked for a little bit outside, they asked us questions about the stand and congratulated us on taking over the business and wished us luck with it.” Susak has owned Scoops & More since July of this year. After taking a picture with Susak, Devito and Pearlman, along with their daughter left but said that they will stop back when they are in town again.

HORRIFIC CRASH ON I-90 KILLS ONE

To see all photos from the crash: CLICK HERE


A horrific crash on I-90 this afternoon leaves one dead and one sent to the hospital with chest pains. Witnesses say that a car driving west on I-90 was traveling at a high rate of speed going in and out of traffic.

“We saw him go off the side of the road once, then he turned into one of these medians at about 60 miles an hour then he turned real quick and got out. We could smell his tires burning and then he pulled off the side of the road and he was trying to go in between people and around people and then we lost him until 2 or 3 minutes later when we saw this.” Unidentified witness

“The guy crossed the medium about a mile and a half down the road, he was driving westbound then in the eastbound lane doing about a hundred miles an hour when he hit the truck. As soon as they collided we seen the truck… the car just squished. The truck pushed it right through and as soon as it hit the median it burst into flames. I was on the other side but saw a bunch of people run to the truck and open his door then they pulled him out.” Witness Mark Williams

Elyria Township Fire with the assistance of Elyria Fire, Carlisle Township Fire, Amherst Fire, South Amherst Fire, Lorain Fire and Sheffield Township Fire fought the fire and secured the scene. Ohio State Highway Patrol, Elyria Police, Sheffield Village Police and Lorain County Sheriff’s Department handled the massive traffic back up. Ohio State Highway Patrol is handling the investigation. At this point one person died in the car that hit the semi and the driver of the semi was taken to Elyria Memorial Hospital for chest pains.