Man arrested after trying to set woman on fire over $10

By Lucas Sullivan | Monday, November 9, 2009, 10:49 AM

DAYTON - A 46-year-old who tried to stab and set a woman on fire Saturday, Nov. 7, has been arrested on felony assault and burglary charges.

George E. Combs Jr., 46

Officers were called 4447 Foxton Court about 10:20 p.m. by witnesses who said “male and female fighting about a crack pipe,” according to a police report.

Mary Akers, 47, told police George E. Combs Jr. had a gas can and was trying to set a truck on fire while she was inside the vehicle, the report stated. Officers noticed Akers had a cut on her head and bruising under her left eye, the report stated.

Akers said she and Combs’ girlfriend, Andrea Fradl, were inside her apartment when he broke into her place, the report stated.

Fradl said the incident started when Combs came in the home “intoxicated” and “belligerent,” while demanding $10, the report stated.

Combs hit Fradl in the face after she told him “no,” the report stated. Combs then went outside and flattened tires on Fradl’s truck, the report stated. He returned with a lighter and gas can and tried to pour gas on Fradl, Akers told the officers.

Fradl said she then fled to her truck and locked the doors, the report stated. Combs, armed with a knife and gas can, followed and opened a window in the back of truck, she told police. Combs swung the knife wildly inside the truck, cutting Fradl and threatening “to kill” her, the report stated.

Combs ran from the scene right before police arrived, but was found by officers nearby sitting down near an access road, the report stated. He was arrested on felony burglary and assault charges and also faces two misdemeanor assault and criminal damaging charges, the report stated.

He is in the Montgomery County Jail.

Permalink | | More: Bizarre crimes

Man raking leaves uncovers loaded gun in bushes

By Lucas Sullivan | Monday, November 9, 2009, 10:28 AM

DAYTON - A 42-year-old man raking his leaves in his front yard uncovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his bushes Saturday, Nov. 7.

George Watson Jr. was trying to clean up his yard in the 500 block of Kenilworth Avenue about 12:30 p.m. when he noticed a black, 9-millimeter Highpoint gun in his bushes, according to a police report.

Officers arrived and found a bullet in the chamber, but there was no magazine, the report stated. The serial number had been scratched off, making it impossible for officers to identify the original owner of the gun, the report stated.

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City’s 34th homicide victim was stabbed to death

By Lucas Sullivan | Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:43 PM

DAYTON - The 36-year-old man stabbed to death somewhere near the 1900 block of Grand Avenue has been identified as John R. Morgan Jr., according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

John R. Morgan Jr., 36, was found dead Friday morning, Nov. 6.

Morgan collapsed and died outside on apartment complex about 4 a.m. today, Nov. 6, after he was stabbed in the neck, police said. A resident heard a knock on the door, a crash and then looked out to see the man down on the ground, police said.

Homicide detectives believe Morgan might have been stabbed at another location and walked to the area where he collapsed, based on evidence found near the scene.

Lead homicide detective Sgt. Gary White said there are no suspects in the stabbing and no known motive at this time.

Morgan was a known drug dealer to police, according to police reports. He was arrested and booked into Montgomery County Jail on Sept. 29 for soliciting to sell illegal drugs at 600 N. Broadway Ave., according to a police report.

Scott Peters, 38, told an undercover drug unit detective then that Morgan was helping him $5 worth of crack cocaine, the report stated. Peters was arrested for loitering to buy illegal drugs and solicitation, the report stated.

Morgan is the city’s 34th homicide victim this year. You can track the investigation of his death and all the others from this year and 2008 by clicking here.

Permalink | | More: Homicides, Stabbing

Woman told not to leave kids in car does so twice in one day

By Lucas Sullivan | Friday, November 6, 2009, 11:24 AM

DAYTON - A 20-year-old woman was arrested on two felony child endangering charges Thursday, Nov. 5, after authorities warned her twice in the same day not to leave her children alone in the car.

Angela N. Duncan, 20

Angela N. Duncan left a 12-month-old boy and 9-month-old girl outside the YWCA on West Third Street before 11 p.m., police said. A passerby noticed the children alone in a 1998 green Honda Civic and called police about 11 p.m., police said.

Duncan is the guardian of both children, police said.

Duncan had been warned by police and Montgomery County Children’s Services earlier that day after she left the kids in the car for about 30 minutes, Children’s Services spokeswoman Ann Stevens said.

A passerby also noticed the children alone in the car and called police in that instance, Stevens said.

“We talked to her (after the first incident) about not doing that,” Stevens said. “Then the same thing happened again. The children have been placed in foster care and are doing just fine.”

Stevens said it’s never OK to leave children unattended.

“It only takes a second for something to go wrong,” Stevens said.

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19-year-old shot in leg over $10

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 11:25 AM

DAYTON - Police are looking for a gunman who robbed and shot a 19-year-old man in the 1900 block of Oakridge Drive Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Witnesses reported shots being fired near Smith’s Market in the 200 block of Lorenz Avenue about 7 p.m. and officers arrived to find Ibny Johnson on the ground a few blocks away.

Johnson said a young, light-skinned black male, age 18 to 21, about 6-feet tall and slender, approached wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a mask over his face, according to a police report.

The gunman asked Johnson for whatever he had and then fired shots into the air, Johnson told police. The gunman then told Johnson to run after Johnson laid the $10 bill on the ground, the report stated.

As Johnson ran away the gunman fired at least two more shots, hitting Johnson once in the leg. Johnson was taken to Miami Valley Hospital for the non-life threatening gunshot wound, the report stated.

He is expected to be OK.

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call 333-COPS.

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Dayton cops with masks preparing for airborne emergency

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 10:49 AM

DAYTON - All 395 Dayton Police officers are getting specialized breathing masks fitted this week as part of the department’s U.S. Department of Homeland Security training.

Dayton Police Sgt. Maurice Speaks gets his mask fitted and tested at department headquarters in downtown Dayton Thursday, Nov. 5.

Dayton Sgt. Maurice Speaks does exercises to make sure his mask fits correctly while moving as Officer Aaron Fraley monitors his breathing on a computer.

Dayton Sgt. Maurice Speaks breaths through his mask while Officer Aaron Fraley monitors his breathing on a computer.

Each officer in the department must go through a breathing procedure while reading, exercising and at rest to make sure their masks do not allow in harmful airborne particles or let clean air escape, Det. Wes Hale said Thursday, Nov. 5.

Hale lights candles, which submit dirty particles in the air, and then hooks up an officer’s mask up to a computer that notifies if the particles are entering or air is escaping.

The training is part of Homeland Security training implemented by the federal government. Each officer is issued a mask and, at various times, must be tested to make sure the mask fits, Hale said.

“If an officer loses weight, gains weight, shaves a beard or mustache that can affect the seal (of the mask),” Hale said. “We have to make sure they fit correctly.”

But Hale said the masks are not used for just terrorist attacks.

“Train derailments” would be an example, he said. A derailed train can release harmful gases that could kill or seriously compromise an officer’s ability to help at the scene, Hale said.

The tests show that local police departments are always preparing for an airborne or terrorist attack, Hale said.

Permalink | | More: Crime prevention

State agency investigated suspended Dayton police officer

By Lucas Sullivan | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 09:32 AM

DAYTON - A veteran Dayton Police Officer was asked to turn in his badge and weapon Tuesday, Nov. 3, after two separate criminal investigations found he might have broken the law.

Officer Alan Parker has been suspended after an organized crime task force within state Attorney General Richard Cordray’s office investigated for more than a year the officer’s use of a statewide criminal database, police said.

Cordray’s spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth is checking to see if she can confirm his office was involved in the investigation.

Parker is also the focus of a DPD internal investigation, but details of that investigation are unknown.

Police Chief Richard Biehl said this afternoon Parker was suspended for misuse of a police computer and for job performance, but declined to elaborate. He said both investigations have been submitted to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of criminal charges.

Parker has not been fired and is not facing any criminal charges at this time, police union president Randy Beane said.

“If the allegations are true then he does not deserve to wear the badge,” Beane said. “We are professionals and are held to a higher standard.”

Parker is a patrol officer in the department’s second-district which covers the southeastern portion of the city. He has been with the department 19 years, Biehl said.

Parker’s personnel file contained three reprimands including: one written reprimand issued on Oct. 14 for “submitting overlapping overtime entries resulting in being erroneously overpaid for the same hours worked.”

He received an oral reprimand on August 27 for investigating a hit-and-run accident at 2921 Linden Ave. and not submitting a report until Sept. 16, according to documents in his file. The other oral reprimand was for not filing correct medical paperwork before returning to full duty.

Parker has also received six written commendations in his career including; for his investigation that led to arrest of drug dealers in 1993, recovering a stolen car in 2002 and involvement in numerous other arrests.

Parker is the second officer to be investigated for misuse of police computers. Officer Phillip Brooks Sr. in April was suspended indefinitely after an internal investigation found he allegedly used a department database to find impounded cars and sell them illegally.

Brooks, who has since left the department, was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to the investigation and his case is still pending.

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