WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday morning. (Stories are listed in order of date)

Lakota preschool program could be merged: During last Monday’s school board meeting, Lakota officials discussed merging its preschool program with county programs. The proposed joint venture with Butler County Educational Service Center (ESC) would save about $1.2 million of the target $9 million in savings Lakota officials have said is needed for next school year. The merger would affect 288 preschool students and would eliminate 17 classroom jobs for the 2012-2013 school year.

AK Steel executive to retire: Last Monday, West Chester based AK Steel announced that its long-time spokesman Alan H. McCoy, vice president, government and public relations, has elected to retire effective January 31. McCoy was named general manager, public relations for AK Steel in 1994. He is currently a director of the Ohio Steel Council and also serves as a trustee of Ursuline Academy.

West Chester’s IKEA activates solar energy system: The IKEA in West Chester is now powering its lights, operating its cash registers and cooking its Swedish meatballs using a solar energy system that is located on the store’s rooftop. Heather Spatz, West Chester’s IKEA store manager, officially announced the activation of the solar energy system last Tuesday. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of clean electricity produced by 4,186 solar panels atop the IKEA building is equivalent to eliminating the yearly emissions of 180 passenger cars.

Road projects to affect Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Ohio 129 and U.S. 42: Last Tuesday, The Butler County Engineer’s Office announced that it is planning to improve Cincinnati-Dayton Road at the Ohio 129 interchange in Liberty Township. The project, which is slated for construction in 2014, is currently in the preliminary engineering phase with environmental studies and early design plans under way. The $2.5 million project is geared to improving traffic safety and flow in the area. Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced last Tuesday that culvert replacement will require closing U.S. 42 between Cox Road and Tylersville Road from Feb. 18 to March 2.

Lakota West falls to Fairfield in battle for 2nd in GMC: After handing Middletown its first conference loss Jan. 20, Lakota West hosted Fairfield last Tuesday in a basketball game between two programs tied for second place in the Greater Miami Conference. The Firebirds jumped out to an early lead, but fell behind and eventually lost 70-59. Lakota West did rebound with a win last Friday when it defeated Colerain by the score 77-71 in overtime. The Firebirds are currently in a three-way tie for third in the GMC.

West Chester cop David Busemeyer pleads guilty to felonies, quits job: A police officer pleaded guilty to two felony charges, then resigned from his job last Wednesday. David Busemeyer, who was accused of alerting a drug dealer to an undercover bust, admitted to attempted tampering with evidence and obstructing official business. In exchange for his plea in Butler County Common Pleas Court, a charge of obstructing justice was dismissed. Busemeyer also was accused of revealing the identity of a confidential informant in the case. After the plea, Busemeyer tendered his resignation from the job he had held since August 2002. He faces a maximum prison term of two and a half years, but could be granted probation at sentencing March 8.

Two killed in West Chester crash: Police found two people dead Saturday morning in a car that crashed into two parked semi tractor-trailers at a distribution warehouse at 9842 International Blvd. Police determined that the victims were traveling northbound on International Boulevard in a Honda Civic when it veered off the road, passed through a parking lot, hit two trees, encountered a berm and became airborne. When the car landed, it went under one tractor-trailer, sheering off the car’s top. The car then became wedged under a second tractor-trailer. The names of the victims have not been released.

Posted in: Board of Education, Crime, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports, Traffic, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: AK Steel, AK Steel West Chester, Alan H. McCoy, Alan McCoy, Barbara Wilson, Butler County Engineer’s Office, Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Cincinnati-Dayton Road Liberty Township, Cox Road, Cox Road West Chester, David Busemeyer, IKEA, IKEA Cincinnati, IKEA photos, IKEA solar photos, IKEA solar power, IKEA solar power Cincinnati, IKEA solar power West Chester, IKEA West Chester, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West sports, Liberty Township construction, Ohio 129, Ohio 129 Liberty Township, Tylersville Road, Tylersville Road West Chester, U.S. 42, U.S. 42 project, U.S. 42 West Chester, West Chester accident, West Chester Police Officer David Busemeyer, West Chester Traffic, West Chester traffic delays

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Janice Morse reports:

A police officer pleaded guilty to two felony charges, then resigned from his job Wednesday.

David Busemeyer, who was accused of alerting a drug dealer to an undercover bust, admitted to attempted tampering with evidence and obstructing official business. In exchange for his plea in Butler County Common Pleas Court, a charge of obstructing justice was dismissed.

Busemeyer also was accused of revealing the identity of a confidential informant in the case.

After the plea, Busemeyer tendered his resignation from the job he had held since August 2002, said Police Chief Erik Niehaus. Busemeyer, 37, had been on suspension without pay and without benefits since his indictment in November.

• Story: Busemeyer misses plea agreement deadline, case goes to trial
• Story: Busemeyer’s request for drug treatment denied again
• Details from the court documents filed by Butler County prosecutors

Busemeyer faces a maximum prison term of two and a half years, but could be granted probation at sentencing, which Judge Keith Spaeth set for March 8.

Twice before, Spaeth had turned down Busemeyer’s request to complete a court-ordered treatment program for substance abuse instead of facing possible prison time. Busemeyer has said he was addicted to steroids and painkillers.

After court, Niehaus commended Butler County Prosecutor Michael T. Gmoser and West Chester investigators for their role in the case.

The chief declined further comment, but a news release said: “West Chester Township and its employees uphold the highest standards of professional integrity. Deviations from this standard are not tolerated.”

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Attorney Richard Skelton, Butler County Prosecutor, crime, David Busemeyer, Judge Keith Spaeth, West Chester crime, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Police Officer David Busemeyer

Rachel Richardson of MasonBuzz and Cincinnati Enquirer reports:

The West Chester Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating a man suspected of using a stolen credit card in connection with a burglary.

Police say the suspect used the stolen credit card to purchase gift cards at the Walgreens store at 4241 Glenway Ave. in West Price Hill on Jan. 8.

Walgreens surveillance video shows a white male, possibly in his 20s, with a short, but heavy build. The suspect is described as wearing a black “bubble” coat with fur lining the collar and an orange liner.

The same suspect also used a stolen credit card at the Walgreens store at 5508 Bridgetown Road in Bridgetown.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. All calls are anonymous and callers may be eligible for a cash reward.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Crime Stoppers, Crime Stoppers West Chester, Walgreens Bridgetown, Walgreens West Price Hill, West Chester crime, West Chester Police Deparment

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Sheila McLaughlin reports:

The Jan. 23 federal sentencing hearing for former Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox has been canceled.

Court records indicate that U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith had a conflict because of other matters on her criminal calendar. Court officials said there were additional confidential issues involved.

The hearing isn’t expected to be reset anytime soon, they said.

Concerns about Fox’s health and the ability of the federal prison system to deal with it have delayed his sentencing since the March 2011 plea. At that hearing, Fox, who is obese, told the judge that he has diabetes, a heart condition and was being treated for anxiety and depression.

Fox, who accepted a four-year prison sentence as part of a plea agreement, was to be sentenced nearly a year after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

In exchange, four counts of mail fraud involving allegations of corruption and bribery are to be dropped at sentencing.

If convicted of all charges, Fox faced about 21 years in prison.

The conspiracy charge involved a $460,000 payment that Fox received from longtime friend Robert C. Schuler in exchange for allegedly helping Schuler’s company secure a $1 million county contract to provide fiber-optic services in 2002.

Schuler of Dublin, Ohio, is serving a year probation on home incarceration after pleading guilty to filing a false tax return.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox, Michael A. Fox

Information gathered from The Enquirer’s Sheila McLaughlin:

The case of a West Chester Township police officer accused of tipping off a drug dealer about an undercover bust is going to trial Jan. 30.

The Butler County Prosecutor’s Office alerted The Enquirer’s Sheila McLaughlin that David Busemeyer had missed a plea agreement deadline late Thursday night. Neither Busemeyer’s lawyer Richard Skelton nor County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser would provide details of the proposal.

Busemeyer, 37, of Hamilton Township in Warren County, was indicted in October on charges of attempted tampering with evidence, obstructing official business and obstructing justice.

• Details from the court document filed by Butler County prosecutors

Court records indicate that the drug dealer involved was the brother of Busemeyer’s former mistress. Besides tipping off the drug dealer, Busemeyer is accused to revealing the identity of a confidential informant in the case.

Busemeyer remains free on his promise to return to future court hearings but was suspended from his township job without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case.

This week, Busemeyer, who has claimed to be addicted to steroids and painkillers, appeared before Judge Keith Spaeth in common pleas court and requested to receive drug treatment instead of having a felony conviction on his record.

It was the second attempt by Busemeyer to avoid a potential 3½-year prison sentence. His proposal, however, was denied.

If the judge had agreed, Busemeyer had a chance to complete court-ordered substance abuse treatment and comply with other conditions in exchange for having his record wiped clean.

Judge Spaeth didn’t give a reason for his decision.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Attorney Richard Skelton, Butler County Prosecutor, crime, David Busemeyer, Judge Keith Spaeth, West Chester crime, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Police Officer David Busemeyer

A former local high school basketball standout and an Avondale man were sentenced to multiple years in prison Thursday after taking part in a planned home robbery in Liberty Township.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth handed down prison sentences of three years to Daniel McElroy and of five years to Eddie Willis, according to Local 12 news.

The two men participated in the robbery that was planned out by the home owner’s 17-year-old daughter.

After the incident, the daughter’s mother Evelyn Shepherd told police that two men entered her bedroom with handguns while she was sleeping and demanded money and her cell phone. She fought them off when they tried to tape her mouth shut.

McElroy and Willis fled with jewelry and Shepherd’s phone, according to Butler County sheriff’s investigators.

The daughter, who met and persuaded McElroy and Willis to rob her mother’s house, has been sentenced to about six months in a juvenile correctional facility. She admitted to complicity to aggravated robbery and complicity to kidnapping charges.

McElroy, a graduate of La Salle High School, played for the Bowling Green University men’s basketball team. As a senior at La Salle, McElroy was honorable mention all-state and first-team all-GCL South.

According to a report from the Pulse Journal, McElroy’s mother, Karen McElroy told the judge that West Virginia State University had contacted her and wanted her son to play basketball.

McElroy, 22, plead guilty in December to complicity to aggravated robbery and complicity to kidnapping, while Willis, 21, plead guilty in November to aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Bowling Green, Bowling Green basketball, Bowling Green State University, Daniel McElroy, Daniel McElroy robbery, Daniel Odell McElroy, Eddie C. Willis, Eddie Willis, Evelyn Shepherd, home robbery, La Salle basketball, robbery

Cincinnati Enquirer’s Sheila McLaughlin reports:

A West Chester Township police officer accused of tipping off a drug dealer about an undercover bust wants to receive drug treatment instead of having a felony conviction on his record.

But a Butler County judge on Wednesday denied the proposal — again.

David Busemeyer, who has claimed to be addicted to steroids and painkillers, appeared before Judge Keith Spaeth in common pleas court for a second shot at possibly avoiding a potential 3½-year prison sentence.

If the judge had agreed, Busemeyer had a chance to complete court-ordered substance abuse treatment and comply with other conditions in exchange for having his record wiped clean.

Spaeth didn’t give a reason for his decision. He doesn’t have to by law.

It appears the case will go to trial on Jan. 30.

“It does not appear this case is going to be resolved short of a trial,” Spaeth said.

Busemeyer didn’t say anything in court and his lawyer Richard Skelton declined comment after the hearing.

Skelton said in mid-December that prosecutors had offered Busemeyer a plea agreement. Neither Skelton nor County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser would provide details of the proposal.

Busemeyer, 37, of Hamilton Township in Warren County, was indicted in October on charges of attempted tampering with evidence, obstructing official business and obstructing justice.

Court records indicate that the drug dealer involved was the brother of Busemeyer’s former mistress. Besides tipping off the drug dealer, Busemeyer is accused to revealing the identity of a confidential informant in the case.

Busemeyer remains free on his promise to return to future court hearings but was suspended from his township job without pay pending the outcome of the criminal case.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Attorney Richard Skelton, Butler County Prosecutor, crime, David Busemeyer, Judge Keith Spaeth, West Chester crime, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Police Officer David Busemeyer

The Cincinnati Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that it arrested a man suspected of robbing two Dayton area banks this winter while donning black wigs.

Locally, West Chester Police Sgt. Matt Tombragel confirmed Wednesday that Joshua Beall, 23, of Columbus is also the suspect of the PNC Bank robbery in West Chester Township Dec. 13.

During the West Chester robbery, bank surveillance cameras (photo above) captured an image of the suspect with what appeared to be a wig and fake facial hair.

• West Chester bank robberies in 2011

In Tuesday’s FBI report, details show that Beall is suspected of robbing the First Financial Bank in Huber Heights Nov. 17 while wearing a black wig with dreadlocks. The report also shows that Beall is the suspect, who wore another black wig, in the U.S. Bank robbery in Washington Courthouse Dec. 19.

Authorities also allege that Beall’s brother cased the First Financial Bank by entering it shortly before the robbery and inquired about opening an account. The brother, R.L. Beall of Riverside, has not been charged.

Joshua Beall, however, was arrested Dec. 23 at his mother’s residence in Riverside. According to the FBI, he was held for violation of the terms of his parole until Dec. 30 when he was arrested on the bank robbery charges.

The suspect is a resident of Alvis House, a halfway house in Columbus. Personnel of the halfway house contacted the Columbus FBI office Dec. 23 after seeing news reports with surveillance photos from the recent bank robberies. FBI investigation led to Beall’s arrest that same day.

On Tuesday, he appeared in U.S. Magistrate’s Court in Dayton and was ordered held pending further proceedings.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: bank robbery, Cincinnati Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Cincinnati, Keith Bass, PNC Bank, PNC Bank robbery, PNC Bank robbery West Chester, Sgt. Matt Tombragel, West Chester bank robbery, West Chester crime, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Police Sgt. Matt Tombragel, West Chester U.S. Bank

I-75 standoff puts region at a standstill

It was something out of a Hollywood script – bank robber driving a stolen van takes police on a chase, concluding with a standoff that shuts down the city’s biggest highway.

The story began in West Chester when Jackie Jackson Jr., 31, of Cumminsville, entered the PNC Bank, 7301 Tylers Corner Drive, March 29 pulled out his gun – pointing it at bank employees and demanding cash.

After being given approximately $4,280 in cash, Jackson exited the bank by telling the employees to “have a nice day.”

“I pulled my alarm as soon as I saw him coming because I realized that he had a mask on and a backpack and I could see the gun before he walked into the door,” a PNC Bank employee told a 911 dispatcher.

During that call, the bank employees were able to identify to the dispatcher the license plate and give a description of the robber’s van.

One of the supervisors with the West Chester Police Department, Sgt. Jeff Niehaus, saw the vehicle and followed the suspect onto Union Centre Boulevard to Mulhauser Road before eventually pulling the van over on Centre Pointe Drive.

Once Neihaus started his approach to the vehicle, the driver fled the scene and traveled on southbound I-75.

While fleeing police at around 85 mph on I-75, the suspected bank robber crashed and came to a stop at Lock Street and Cooper Avenue, right off the I-75 exit in Lockland.

“While at that location, the suspect threatened the officers on the scene with a handgun several times,” West Chester Police Chief Erik Neihaus said during a press conference on the afternoon of the robbery. “Three of our officers discharged their firearms in response to that threat.”

In radio broadcasts that the West Chester Police Department released the day after the robbery, officers were heard saying, the “suspect is advised he wants to have a shootout,” “he waved the gun out the window” and “is pointing the gun through the windshield at people.”

What was believed to be a handgun turned out to be an Airsoft Pistol or toy gun. The three officers, who were all West Chester Police, discharged seven rounds of shots at the suspect and his vehicle.

“He made it very clear that he wanted to cause gunfire on our part,” Chief Neihaus said.

“There is no doubt that this is situation that turned out for the best. I think we were dealing with someone who was doing bad things and based on the preliminary investigation our response was handled appropriately. I am just happy our officers are safe, the public is safe and that he is in custody.”

While in custody, on the evening of the robbery, Jackson waived his Miranda rights during an interview with West Chester Detective James Thomas.

“I did ask him specifically when he was in the bank, when he was pointing the weapon at the bank employees what his intentions were in pointing the gun at them, he said, he was not trying to hurt anybody, but he just wanted to get his point across, he wanted the money,” Thomas said.

“I asked him if the bank employees thought that was a real gun and he stated ‘yes.’ I also asked if someone had pointed that gun at him if he would have thought it was a real gun, he said, ‘yes.’”

One of those employees who thought the suspect had a real gun was PNC bank employee Michael Bollin.

In his testimony, during the preliminary hearing, Bollin couldn’t identify Jackson Jr. as the robber and said the person who robbed the bank was “completely covered, from head to toe” in black. He also described the suspect as “very stern” and “very calm.” When asked if the robber made any threats, Bollin said that robber said, “hands up, that was about it.”

On Aug. 3, 65 days after the robbery, Jackson was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to charges of robbery, attempted receiving stolen property and failure to comply with a police signal.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: bank robbery, car crash, crash, I-75, Jackie Jackson, Jackie Jackson Jr., PNC Bank, robbery, shootout, standoff, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Chief, West Chester Police Department, West Chester robbery, West Chester top 11 stories of 2011, West Chester top stories of 2011

Attempted abduction in Meijer parking puts community on alert

WestChesterBuzz.com will count down the area’s top 11 stories of 2011 this month, concluding with West Chester’s most discussed topic of the year Dec. 30.

No other crime story woke up the community like the attempted abduction case that involved a 21-year-old women and an attacker in the parking lot of a West Chester Meijer.

On a rainy night in late February, the victim was placing items in her car when someone came up from behind and pushed her. She immediately started screaming.

“He said, ‘shut up, shut up, shut up,’” the victim said on the witness stand during a preliminary hearing March 8 against defendant Cham Roeun Rath. “But I couldn’t shut up.”

As the attacker told her to “shut up,” the attacker put its hand over the victim’s mouth. The victim then bit her attacker’s hand. She then fell backwards and the attacker fled. The victim was left with a bump on her head from the fall, a scratch on her lip and a bruise on her arm from being held by her attacker.

She didn’t get a good look at her attacker’s face and admitted that she couldn’t pick the person out of a lineup. She was, however, able to describe her attacker’s clothing.

She was never asked in the courtroom or during the investigation to ID her attacker.

Rath, 31, who was the suspect in the case, was not indicted by a Butler County Grand Jury and was eventually discharged from custody of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

During the investigation of the case, Rath told West Chester Detective Doug Farris that he never left his house the entire day of the incident. Farris also said that Rath “agreed to give a DNA swab,” but refused after being explained that his DNA could have been found on the victim’s face. Rath explained to Farris, “there was no reason to do that since he never left the house.”

Rath’s mother also claimed that she never left the house on Feb. 24. However, according to Farris, Rath’s younger brother told the detective that his mother did leave the house that day, but didn’t know the time she was out.

Farris also said that he was able to identify Rath on video surveillance at the Meijer store. According to Farris, he saw Rath enter the store at the same moment the victim was seen leaving.

At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, public defender Lynn Cunningham asked for Rath’s bond to be reduced from $50,000 and asked for the charge of abduction to be reduced, but was denied by judge Dan Haughey.

“That would not be fair to the women of West Chester,” Haughey said.

“These are allegations that cause a considerable amount of concern.”

Overall, the case concerned many to rethink about shopping at night.

West Chester Officer Jeff Newman agrees that the community learned a lot from this story.

“I believe the Meijer incident made residents change their bad habits when it comes to shopping at night or shopping in daytime as well,” Newman said.

“And based upon how the female was able to defend herself provided encouragement to residents that you can put some simple things in place that will reduce your chances of becoming a victim.”

Newman recently provided a few tips on how to avoid being a victim:

• Park in a well-lit portion of the lot.
• Park close to the store.If possible, shop with anything person.
• Look around at the lot while walking to your vehicle. Head back into the store if there is anything suspicious. Speak with a store employee or call 911.
• Have your car keys ready and the other hand free.
• Have your cell phone available.
• Attend a basic self-defense class.

Posted in: Crime, News |

Tags: Tags: Cham Rath, Cham Roeun Rath, judge Dan Haughey, Meijer abduction, West Chester abduction, West Chester crime, West Chester Meijer, West Chester Meijer abduction, West Chester Police Department, West Chester top 11 stories of 2011, West Chester top stories of 2011