Police officer charged with menacing after brandishing gun

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 05:55 PM

DAYTON - A Dayton International Airport Police officer is facing a misdemeanor menacing charge after witnesses and victims said he brandished his city-issued handgun in front of kids to threaten a man while off duty.

Michael Lawson, 30

City police responded to the 300 block of Maryland Avenue about 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, after receiving a call that Michael Lawson “pulled a gun out” and threatened someone, according to a police report.

Officers later learned Lawson, 30, had pulled out a gun in front of his girlfriend’s children after threatening their father with physical harm, according to a police report. Lawson was not arrested, but ordered in to talk with prosecutors Thursday, March 11.

A case was created in Dayton Municipal Court Thursday morning with a misdemeanor charge of menacing, according to court records. Lawson is scheduled for arraignment in municipal court on March 23.

Lawson has been placed on paid administrative leave and his weapon seized by his supervisor. He was not home early Thursday afternoon and was unavailable for comment.

After arriving at Maryland Avenue, officers found Lawson, 30, in his gray Jeep Cherokee on Deeds Avenue and he immediately jumped out of the vehicle and identified himself as an airport police officer, the report stated.

Lawson said he returned his city-issued Glock 22 back in house after having an argument with the father of his girlfriend’s children, police said. Lawson said he and Mark Shade have had numerous run-ins the last four months he has been dating his girlfriend.

Lawson said Shade has threatened him with physical harm numerous time and started yelling at him while waiting at an RTA bus stop Wednesday. But Shade contends Lawson pulled up in his Jeep and started cussing at him, the report stated.

Witnesses also reported Lawson approached Shade and made threatening comments, police said. Lawson then returned to his Jeep and retrieved a gun, police said.

Numerous witnesses said Shade’s children started screaming “He pulled a gun” before a resident in the area grabbed Lawson and broke up the altercation, the report stated.

This isn’t Lawson’s first brush with police. He was arrested on a domestic violence charge in May but the charges were later dismissed, according to court records.

The Dayton International Airport has 27 full-time police officers, many of which are members of the Dayton Public Service Union, city officials said.

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School placed on lockdown after woman brandishes gun

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 02:56 PM

DAYTON - Multiple police officers are responding to the Immaculate Conception School on South Smithville Road about 3 p.m. as reports are coming in a woman is driving recklessly through the parking lot while brandishing a gun.

The car is described as a black Jeep that was lat seen heading south on Smithville Road.

The school has been placed on lock down and there are no reports of injuries at this time, according to police scanner traffic.

Stay with DaytonDailyNews.com.

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FBI investigation uncovers officer’s missing assault rifle

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 11:08 AM

DAYTON - An FBI investigation into illegal drug activity uncovered a Dayton Police officer’s missing assault rifle Wednesday, March 10, inside a Trotwood home.

Officer James Hardin’s AR-15 assault rifle had been missing since Feb. 14, after he placed it on the roof of his cruiser and drove off, police said.

Hardin last saw the gun near Wayne and Wilmington avenues shortly after starting his shift, police said.

The gun was described as a Rock River Arms AR-15 .223 caliber rifle, valued at about $800, Maj Mark Hess said. The gun’s serial number was entered into a nationwide crime database and matched that of the gun found inside a home on Brumbaugh Boulevard Wednesday, police said.

FBI agents also found $4,500 in cash and marijuana, police said. The identities of the people inside the home being investigated by the FBI were not released.

Lt. Chris Williams, Hardin’s supervisor, said it is likely the officer will face some sort of discipline for losing his weapon. An internal affairs spokesman said no discipline had been filed as of Thursday morning.

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Indiana man feared dead found during drug bust

By Lucas Sullivan | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 10:42 AM

DAYTON - Police delivered good and bad news to an Indiana family who thought their loved one was dead from a drug overdose, but was instead discovered in the front seat of a car in Dayton Tuesday, March 10.

Jeremy Braden, 19

Mark Price, 28

Mark Price, 28, is alive but is now in the Montgomery County Jail on drug paraphernalia possession and theft charges after officers found drugs in the car, according to a police report.

Officers were patrolling the 200 block of Valley Street about 6:30 p.m. when they noticed Jeremy Braden, who was an alleged theft suspect, behind the wheel of a 2003 Buick Century, the report stated.

Both Price and Braden, 19, got out of the car and tried to walk away as officers approached, but were escorted back to the vehicle, the report stated. Officers found baggies of marijuana in Braden’s pocket which he said he planned to sell, the report stated.

Braden was arrested on a drug trafficking charge and is in jail, according to jail records.

Officers also discovered a crack pipe which Price said belonged to him, the report stated. Price’s family was later notified he was no longer missing and was alive. Both men are expected to appear in court today.

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Police union unhappy with administration, threatens no-confidence vote

By Lucas Sullivan | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 08:54 AM

DAYTON - The city’s police union, citing breakdowns in communication and lack of action by police administration, are threatening a no-confidence vote in Asst. Chief Wanda Smith and Chief Richard Biehl.

The union’s membership voted unanimously late Tuesday night clearing the way for a no-confidence vote, union president Randy Beane said. He would not say how likely a no-confidence vote would be or when or if the union would take further action.

“We have made our issues known to (Biehl and Smith) and (Biehl) has failed to take any action,” Beane said. “So we have little choice but maybe do something we don’t want to in a no-confidence vote, but feel it’s necessary.”

The union’s threat comes after city officials late last week suspended Beane’s city email account because he sent union-related messages to officers on his city-issued email account, city officials said.

“Mr. Beane, in his capacity as president of the FOP, used the (city’s) e-mail system in an apparent attempt to guide the results of the investigation by directly contacting the supervisors assigned to conduct the investigation,” said Brent McKenzie, the city’s human resources director.”His action as president of the union left the city with no alternative than to discontinue his City of Dayton e-mail connection.”

Tensions have been bubbling between union officials and police administration for more than a year, but boiled over after Beane’s statements related to officers having to punch time clocks starting this summer.

“We’re tired of taking it from the city on things like this,” Beane said at the time. “We have a lot of dedicated officers who come in early and stay late and don’t claim that time. If the city is going to start tracking it, it is going to cost them. Big time.”

Those statements prompted Smith to ask police supervisors to investigate officers for the numbers of hours they work.

Beane said he sent an email late last week to nearly 390 officers, urging them to “tell the truth” and “don’t be intimidated by the threat of discipline.”

Biehl declined comment on the matter today, saying he wasn’t aware of a potential no-confidence vote and had heard nothing from union officials.

A no-confidence vote wouldn’t be the first for the police union. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 44 conducted a no-confidence vote in Chief William P. McManus in August of 2003 but it did not pass. McManus left less than a year later to take the Chief of Police job in Minneapolis.

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17-year-old rape suspect turns self in

By Lucas Sullivan | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 02:56 PM

also reported by Steve Bennish

DAYTON - The 17-year-old suspected of raping a woman in front of her sister has turned himself into police this afternoon, March 9, police said.

Carlos Deonte Harris, accompanied by his mother, walked into the Juvenile Justice Center about 1:30 p.m. and surrendered to authorities, Sgt. Tom Flanders said.

Harris is accused of raping a woman at gunpoint and faces three felony counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery, Flanders said.

He has been at large more than five days since the alleged rape occurred. Flanders said detectives are interviewing Harris at police headquarters as of 3 p.m.

After the attack, police say Harris drove off in the woman’s SUV, which was later found abandoned. Flanders said both women were in their 20s.

Flanders said that Robert D. Murphy, 27, of Springfield, is no longer a suspect in the incident. Murphy had a relationship with one of the women in the crime. Murphy was taken into custody Thursday evening, but was later released.

The women were attacked on East Bruce Avenue after driving to that street early March 4 to meet up with Murphy.

When they arrived, a man carrying an automatic weapon, possibly an Uzi, jumped into their vehicle. He attempted to rob the two.

He then attacked and repeatedly raped the elder sister at gunpoint. He attempted to do the same to the younger sister but was talked out of it by the elder sister, Flanders said.

The attacker, later identified by police as Harris, then ordered both out of their vehicle and drove off.

Police had the vehicle in sight at one point, but the driver managed to elude them by driving dangerously through residential yards, Flanders said.

The vehicle, described as a tan/gold 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada SUV, was later found abandoned at West Fifth Street and Broadway.

All felony counts against Harris carry firearm specifications, as he was believed armed with a TEC-9 semi-auto or automatic weapon, Flanders said. Montgomery County Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge Harris as an adult, he added.

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Boys says mom slapped, bit him over peanut butter

By Lucas Sullivan | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 11:22 AM

DAYTON - A 36-year-old woman is in the Montgomery County Jail on a child endangering charge after her son told officers she repeatedly slapped him and bit him over peanut butter, according to a police report.

Traci Shackleford, 36

Officers responded to the 100 block of Kastner Avenue about 6:20 p.m. Monday, March 8, where they found an 11-year-old boy with redness on his face and back, the report stated. The boy said he was watching his 1-year-old niece and gave her peanut butter to eat.

The toddler got peanut butter on her face, so the boy woke his mother, Traci Shackleford, because he didn’t want to watch his niece anymore, the report stated.

The boy said Shackleford slapped him several times, knocking him down and then bit him on the back. The boy’s father arrived and said Shackleford has been “abusing pills,” the report stated.

Shackleford told police her son would not listen when asked to help clean up the peanut butter, the report stated. Shackleford said her son also cussed at her.

Children’s Services was called to the scene, but the boy was released to his father, authorities said.

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Teen arrested in connection with marijuana found at school

By Lucas Sullivan | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 11:09 AM

DAYTON - A teenager attending Thurgood Marshall High School faces expulsion and a felony drug trafficking charge in connection with nearly eight grams of marijuana found by school officials Monday, March 8.

Officers responded to 4447 Hoover Ave. about 11:20 a.m. after school officials said they found the juvenile carrying marijuana, according to a police report.

The boy admitted he sold the marijuana to make extra money, but claimed he never sold it on school property, the report stated.

The teen’s mother was called and said her son had a “good roof over his head” and she recently gave him $500 to spend on clothes and other things, the report stated.

The teen would not tell officers where he got the marijuana. He was released to his mother, but was issued a summons to appear in juvenile court, the report stated.

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Hamburger to the face results in arrest

By Lucas Sullivan | Monday, March 8, 2010, 10:41 AM

DAYTON - A 47-year-old man was booked into the Montgomery County Jail over the weekend on assault charge after a woman reported he hit her in the face with a hamburger.

Officers arrived in 200 block of Hart Street about 5:40 p.m. Saturday, March 6, where a woman said her uncle, John Buell, hit her in the eye with a hamburger, according to a police report.

The woman said Buell was arguing with her and then went into the kitchen, the report stated. He returned with a burger and smashed it into her face, the report stated.

Buell said his 32-year-old niece had been arguing with her mother and he came downstairs to throw her out of the house, the report stated. Buell said his niece spit at him and that’s when he went to get the hamburger.

Buell has since been released from jail and the assault charge is still pending, police said.

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Man shot in head identified as 34-year-old

By Lucas Sullivan | Monday, March 8, 2010, 10:25 AM

HARRISON TWP., Montgomery County — The man found dead over the weekend from a single gunshot wound to the head has been identified as Dante J. Johnson, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

Dante J. Johnson, 34

Sheriff’s deputies found Johnson, 34, slumped over in a vehicle parked in a lot near North Main Street and Turner Road about 3:40 a.m., Sunday, March 7, investigators said.

The shooting appears to be drug-related and investigators continue to follow leads, Chief Deputy Scott Landis said.

Johnson is the county’s 10th homicide victim this year. You can check the status of the investigation and all others since 2008 by checking out our homicide database.

Anyone with information about Johnson’s death should call 225-STOP.

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