Judge gives woman a month to repay school

ELYRIA — A former Avon Middle School cleaning lady isn’t sure how she’s going to pay for $8,741 in damage she did to the school when she wrote three bomb threats on the wall last April.

County Common Pleas Judge James Burge agreed to give Paulette Tomlin, 57, another month to figure out how to make the payments and also ordered that she undergo a mental exam at a hearing Thursday.

Tomlin, who pleaded guilty to making false alarms and inducing panic for writing the threats that emptied the school three times, had appeared Thursday expecting to be sentenced.

Avon Schools Superintendent Jim Reitenbach asked Burge to send Tomlin to prison because of the damage she did to the psyche of the student body and the district by writing the threats, which she then reported.

“These are not harmless pranks,” he said. “This is an adult who did this.”

Reitenbach also complained that Tomlin has yet to apologize. Tomlin and her attorney, Jack Bradley, both said a court order that prevented Tomlin from contacting the school prevented her from saying how sorry she was.

“She basically ruined her life,” Bradley said during the hearing.

Police say bystanders hindered pursuit

LORAIN — Bystanders tried to help a man get away from police earlier this week during a chase through West 27th Street yards, according to a Lorain police report.

“Run Shalin, don’t let him catch you,” the bystanders yelled as a Lorain police officer chased Shalin Chapman, 25, of Lorain, the report said.

Chapman was found hiding behind a shed and charged Tuesday with burglary, failure to comply with a police order, obstructing official business, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. He was taken to the county jail.

The chase started at 4:13 p.m. when the police officer spotted Chapman driving a 1994 Jeep Cherokee on West 23rd Street, the report said. The officer wrote that he recognized Chapman because he arrested him April 1 on charges of driving under suspension, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The officer said he believed Chapman was driving without a license and tried to pull him over. Instead, Chapman sped up, whipped onto Marshall Avenue and then West 27th Street, the report said.

Chapman ditched his vehicle and ran through the yard in front of Marshall’s Apartments, then ducked into a home and ran out another door, the report said. That’s when several people — the report didn’t specify how many — jumped into the running police officer’s path and tried to block his way.

When Chapman was finally cornered, police found $554 and more than 12 grams of marijuana in his pocket, the report said.

Chapman’s mother, Ernestine Mincy, 45, of Lorain, was charged with allowing an unlicensed driver to use her vehicle.

Mall store worker charged with theft

ELYRIA — A Hot Topic employee confessed Tuesday to stealing $1,853.77 from the Midway Mall store over the past few months.

Jessica A. Lover, 24, of Wooster, was charged with grand theft.

District managers for Hot Topic grew suspicious about the large numbers of fraudulent transactions and returns at the Elyria store, according to a police report.

Lover’s signature was found on 30 false merchandise returns since February, and when confronted about it she broke down and said she’d pulled the same scam earlier in the year, the report said.

 

 

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