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A Loveland man has been reunited with his stolen golf clubs, thanks in part to a quick-thinking Deerfield Township store manager.

David Palmer feared he’d seen the last of his golf clubs when they were stolen from his car parked in his driveway in April.

He reported the crime to Loveland Police Officer Tony Pecord, who suggested he call Play it Again Sports in Deerfield Township and ask that they keep an eye out for someone attempting to sell the clubs.

Three hours later, police had the clubs — and the suspected thief — in hand.

Loveland Police Chief Tim Sabransky said Pecord received a call from the manager of the new and used sporting goods store reporting a call received from someone offering to sell a set of gold clubs that matched the description of the stolen set.

The unidentified manager believed the caller was en route to the store, Sabransky said.

Pecord contacted Warren County/Deerfield Township deputies who apprehended a man with the clubs at the store. The suspect told police he had found the clubs somewhere along Loveland-Madeira Road, said Sabransky.

When Pecord took the man into custody, the man tried to kick the window out of the police car, Sabransky said.

“The suspect’s vehicle was searched and there were several GPS units, a Sirius satellite radio unit and a banjo inside a black case,” Sabransky said.  “The suspect admitted the banjo was stolen but he did not know from where.”

Loveland police charged Jacob Rutherford, 27, of Loveland, with receiving stolen property and took him to the Warren County Jail.

“Officer Pecord conducted a good investigation in cooperation with Play it Again Sports and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office to recover the golf clubs, make an arrest and reunite the owner with his property,” Sabransky said.

Community Press reporter Jeanne Houck contributed

Posted in: Crime, Deerfield Twp., News |

Tags: Tags: crime, david palmer, deerfield township, loveland, play it again sports, theft, tim sabransky, tony pecord

The Enquirer

Kilo, a drug-sniffing black Labrador retriever working for the Warren County Sheriff/Warren County Drug Task Force, has lived up to its name. The dog recently helping authorities confiscate five kilograms of heroin with a street value “well over $1 million,” said John Burke, commander of the drug task force.

On April 30, Donna Mae Herriges of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was pulled over by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for a traffic violation on Interstate 71 a couple of miles north of the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge. Then Kilo the dog went to work, finding five kilos of drugs – about 12 pounds – that were initially thought to be cocaine. “It tested at the lab as very high-grade heroin,” Burke said.

He said the bust was the result of a new collaboration between state troopers and the drug task force.

Herriges, 32, has been indicted on charges of trafficking and possession of heroin and possession of criminal tools. She is in the Warren County Jail.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: commander, crime, donna mae herriges, drugs, jeremiah morrow bridge, john burke, kilo, ohio state highway patrol, warren county drug task force

Paul McKibben reports:

A Warren County grand jury has indicted a Mason man who is accused of using a customer’s accounts while working at U.S Bank.

Jason M. Scott, 33, was indicted on six felony counts. The indictment was announced Monday.

From January 2009 to January 2012 while working at U.S. Bank, Scott took over a customer’s accounts, according to a grand jury report. The grand jury alleges Scott used the Internet to move money from one account to another, forged checks and used a credit card to make purchases. The estimated loss is more than $7,500.

The report did not say which U.S Bank branch Scott worked at or if he is still employed by the company.

Scott was indicted on two fifth-degree felony counts of forgery, one fourth-degree felony count of telecommunications fraud, one third-degree felony count of identity fraud, one fourth-degree felony count of grand theft and one fourth-degree felony count of unauthorized use of property.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: forgery, grand jury, indictment, jason m. scott, mason, telecommunications fraud, theft, u.s. bank, warren county

Kimball Perry reports:

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: cathleen schmid, crime, henkel co, mason, national stark, rob dziech, theft, west chester

Dan Horn reports:

A Mason will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for molesting boys at his mother’s in-home day care and sharing photos of the abuse over the Internet.

A federal judge sentenced Andrew Keith, 29, to 80 years in prison Wednesday for producing and sharing child pornography.

Prosecutors say Keith used his mother’s West Chester day care as a “personal hunting ground for victims” and routinely photographed the boys while he abused them. Keith pleaded guilty last year to 15 counts related to child pornography.

He faced a minimum 30-year prison sentence and had asked U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott to consider such a sentence. An evaluation of Keith found he had been abused as a child and his attorneys said that could qualify him for a lesser sentence.

But federal prosecutors said Keith did great harm to his victims and poses a continued threat to others if he ever is released.

They also said his use of the Internet to share images of the abuse will inflict damage on his victims for years to come.

“Keith continued to exploit children by trading hundreds of sexual abuse images,” said U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart. “The photographs are forever in the stream of commerce. They can never be removed from the worldwide web.”

Keith admitted last year that he abused and photographed at least three young boys from 2002 to 2003, traded those images with others and collected 600 photos of child pornography on his computer.

Prosecutors say he obtained many of those images by bartering with other pedophiles over the Internet, swapping his images of abused children for theirs.

Keith also could have been charged in state court, but police and prosecutors are increasingly choosing to use federal child pornography charges when possible. That’s because federal sentencing rules are tough and pornography cases often are easier to prove than abuse cases that require the testimony of young victims.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: adrew f. keith, andrew faires keith, andrew keith, child abuse, children, crime, day care, daycare, mason, molestation, pornography, teresa bailey, west chester

Ryan Widmer’s new lawyer argues that authorities made five significant mistakes in his case – and four of the claimed errors involve Jeff Braley (pictured), a former Hamilton Township police detective lieutenant who resigned amid controversy over alleged misrepresentations of his credentials. Enquirer file photo

Janice Morse reports:

In a second appeal filed today, Ryan Widmer’s new lawyer argues that authorities made five significant mistakes in his case – and four of the claimed errors involve Jeff Braley, a former Hamilton Township police detective lieutenant who resigned amid controversy over alleged misrepresentations of his credentials.

• Photos: Ryan Widmer speaks with The Enquirer
• Photos: Ryan Widmer convicted of murder
• Read Widmer’s appeal

Attorney Michele Berry filed the second appeal with the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals, the court that heard arguments last month in Widmer’s first appeal.

It is expected to take the court several more weeks to rule on Berry’s arguments, which focused on alleged illegal seizure of the bathtub where authorities say Sarah Widmer, 24, was drowned in 2008.

Widmer, 31, was convicted after his case went to trial three times. He is serving 15 years to life in prison.

The Enquirer will update this story.

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Related stories:

• Widmer hearing focuses on bathtub
• Three-judge panel reviewing Widmer conviction
• Widmer lawyer vows fight after fourth trial denied
• Widmer lawyers: Bathtub seized improperly
• Ryan Widmer: “I’ll never give up”
• Ryan Widmer found guilty of murder

Posted in: Crime, News, Widmer Trial |

Tags: Tags: appeal, arguments, bathtub, convicted, dateline, fourth trial, hamilton township police, jeff braley, mason, michele berry, murder, mystery in the master bedroom, ohio 12th district court of appeals, ryan widmer, sarah widmer

Stacy Schuler, a former health and physical education teacher at Mason High School, is led to prison on October 27, 2011, after she was convicted of 16 felony counts of sexual battery for having sex with five students at the school and 3 misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to minors.

The Enquirer

Attorneys for former Mason High School teacher Stacy Schuler who had sex with five students don’t plan to file a motion on Friday for an early prison release when she is eligible.

No determination has been made when such a motion will be filed.

Schuler, 34, was convicted last October on 16 felony counts of sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to minors.

Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Peeler sentenced the former physical education teacher to four years in prison, but he said she would be eligible for release after serving six months. Her six months are up on Friday.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell has said he would oppose a motion for early release.

Schuler is currently at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, about 35 miles northwest of Columbus.

Posted in: Crime, News |

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A Warren County jury indicted a Mason woman Friday on charges she had sex with a minor and provided the teen with alcohol.

Jennifer J. Alghzawi, 38, faces charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, and a first-degree misdemeanor count involving underage persons.

Officials say Alghzawi and the teen, who is 15, had sexual conduct in June 2011 and that she allowed the teen to consume alcohol in her home on West Line Drive.

Court records show she posted a $30,000 bond on March 12 and informed the court she had changed her address on March 30.

If found guilty on both counts, Alghzawi faces more than five years in prison.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: crime, grand jury, indictment, jennifer alghzawi, mason, sex, teen, warren county, west line drive

Photo provided by Ohio Department of Corrections

A former Mason High School teacher who had sex with five students and provided them with alcohol is eligible for early release from prison next week.

Stacy Schuler, 34, was convicted in October on 16 felony counts of sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts of providing alcohol to minors.

A Warren County judge sentenced the former physical education teacher to four years in prison, but said she would be eligible for release after serving six months.   Her six months are up on Friday.

Schuler’s attorney, Charles H. Rittgers, said he would have to file a motion for her release, but has not yet made a decision on if or  when he would file.

• Photos: Stacy Schuler trial

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The five students, who were all about 17 at the time, testified at Schuler’s four-day bench trial that they had sexual intercourse with Schuler at her Springboro home and that she initiated much of the contact.

Several of the teens said that Schuler was drinking alcohol at the time of the incidents and that she made them vodka smoothies and served them beer and peach wine.

Schuler pleaded not guilty and Judge Robert Peeler allowed her to enter an alternate plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.  The judge rejected her insanity plea, but said at the sentencing that he believes Schuler suffers from psychological and substance-abuse issues.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said if Rittgers files the motion for early release, he would oppose it.

“Ms. Schuler was convicted of 16 felonies, and additional misdemeanors.  The court sentenced her to four years in prison, and under no circumstances should she (be) released after serving only six months,” he said.

Mark Krumbein, a Cincinnati attorney who’s been following the case, said that attorneys must take a number of factors into consideration before filing motions for early release to ensure a motion is successful.

If a judge denies a motion, the offender may have to serve out the remainder of their sentence, he said.

“It is really difficult and you have to make your best educated guess,” said Krumbein of when to file for early release.   ”In Stacy Schuler’s case, she’s got a lot of good mitigating circumstances in her life that would be big factors for Judge Peeler.”

However, he said that a similar case out of Warren County, that of Kings Junior High School teacher Lisa Karabinus, might set a precedent on what a judge considers sufficient penalty.

Karabinus, who was convicted in 2000 of having sexual relations with a 13-year-old student and sentenced to four years, was also eligible for release after six months.  She served two years of that sentence.

That Schuler’s case has attracted national media attention might also play a role in when her attorney might request early release, said Krumbein.

“Whenever an attorney has a high-profile case, you have to wait until the media attention dies down and the public interest is waning,” he said.  “The timing is better and better for Stacy Schuler as it becomes more of an unpleasant memory.”

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: alcohol, attorney, charlie h. rittgers, david fornshell, early release, eligible, judge robert peeler, judicial release, mark krumbein, mason, mason high school, sex, sex case, stacy schuler, teacher, warren county, warren county prosecutor

The Warren County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a report of an attempted child abduction in Deerfield Township.

Deputies say a man approached an 8-year-old girl as she played with her sister, 11, just before 6 p.m. Tuesday near the clubhouse at the Falls at Landen Apartments off Columbia Road.

The suspect approached the girl from behind and attempted to carry her away, the sheriff’s office said.  The girl said she screamed and kicked her legs to resist. The older girl heard the screams and ran towards the girl and saw the suspect flee through the roadway leading into the complex.

The suspect is described as tall and wearing a black “hoodie” pulled over his head and thin black gloves.  He was seen carrying a black gym bag that he picked up from the ground before he fled.  Deputies say he may have been wearing black pants with a white stripe down the legs.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Warren County Sheriff’s Office Deerfield Post at 513-701-1800 or CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3540.  Callers may remain anonymous.

Posted in: Crime, Deerfield Twp., News |

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