Break-ins at the Kroger parking lot
At 4:01 a.m., Monday, OPD responded to the Kroger parking lot, 300 S. Locust St., in reference to a male allegedly rummaging through cars.
Sitting in his car prior to starting his shift, a Kroger employee observed a black male in a sweatshirt and shorts wandering among employee vehicles, pulling at door handles. The employee entered Kroger to warn fellow workers and returned to the parking lot to find his car had been rifled through. Nothing was taken, and the vehicle's owner indicated, "There's really nothing valuable inside the car." The poor quality of Kroger's parking lot surveillance cameras precluded identification of the subject.
OPD identified a male matching the complainant's description walking toward McDonald's and listening to music through headphones. The visibly (and later, admittedly) intoxicated man showed the officer his driver's license, indicating he was born in 1983 and had an active warrant for failure to appear through the Butler County Sherriff's Office. Additionally, the officer found two sets of keys and a keyless entry remote on the suspect's person.
The suspect said he was returning from a birthday party at Parkview Arms, 5032 College Corner Pike, and walking to his aunt's house. Admitting to "drinking all day," the suspect claimed his vehicle, a black Acura to which the keys belonged, remained at Parkview Arms. When OPD informed the man there was no black Acura at that location, he said, "It's a black car, I'm not sure exactly what kind," according to police. He then claimed the keys belonged to his cousin.
At OPD, the suspect said the keys belonged to his fiancé who allowed him to use the vehicle. He was charged with criminal mischief.
Trashcans, trash talk and a trashed man
At 3:10 a.m. Sunday, OPD responded to the Sigma Phi Epsilon house, 224 E. Church St., to reports of an unwanted person at the residence.
Upon arrival, officers found a "large, hostile crowd" spilling onto the lawn. According to OPD, the loud, pugnacious and profoundly intoxicated men were "yelling at and challenging each other." Officers were unable to determine what had led up to this boiling over of testosterone because literally everyone was drunk. Eventually, a fraternity member advised the officers that a fellow fraternity brother had been assaulted earlier in the 100 block of E. Church St.
A less inebriated witness later told police he walked the nearly-incapacitated victim from the Wood's Bar to the fraternity house. At 123 E. Church St., the male - who was entirely dependent on his friend to remain upright - kicked over some trashcans in front of the residence there. A man on the porch of 123 E. Church, described as having "long, flowing black hair" and a dark skin tone, took exception to this and demanded the pair pick up the trash spilled from the toppled receptacles.
Considering his friend was too intoxicated to walk, the second fraternity brother offered to return later, alone, to clean up the mess. This was unacceptable to the man on the porch who, after some apropos trash talk exchanged with the intoxicated male, approached, knocked him to the ground and punched him two or three times in the mouth as he lay defenseless on the ground, according to the witness. After that, the aggressor fled on foot. It is not known if the suspect is a resident of 123 E. Church St.
As officers stood at on the fraternity house lawn, they were shown gruesome pictures of the victim's mouth. One fraternity brother had an iPhone picture of the victim unconscious on a futon, shirt spattered with blood and bleeding from the mouth. The officers demanded to see the victim, believing his wellbeing in serious jeopardy. Men on the lawn informed the officers he was passed out in his room and requested the police not enter the residence.
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OPD waited outside for the initial complainant to bring the victim to the door, but he never returned. They made several other "futile" attempts to ascertain the safety of the victim and were persistently met with, "He's fine; don't come in." Frustrated, the officers verbalized the seriousness of the situation and demanded entry to inspect the victim. According to OPD, after "a few tense moments" officers were led inside to the victim who could not be waked from his semi-conscious state. At the time, no one would come forward as witnesses, OPD said.
Once at McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, the victim, in a drunken stupor, could only mumble, "I was hit so hard." The next day, OPD met with the aforementioned witness while the victim recuperated at home. The following day OPD met with the victim himself, whose last memory before waking up in the hospital is kicking over the trash cans.
The same day as the assault, residents of 123 E. Church St. reported a cinderblock was thrown through the front door Plexiglas window of their residence and vehicle in the rear parking area was separately damaged. According to OPD, it is unknown whether this criminal damaging is coincidental or retaliatory. The suspects in both cases are still at large.
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