Ohio News Briefs

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Inmate found hanging by sheet in Ohio jail cell dies

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — A northwest Ohio sheriff says an inmate found hanging in his cell and later pronounced dead gave jail staff no indication that he should’ve been on suicide watch.

Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish tells The Lima News a correctional officer found the man Tuesday during a routine check, and emergency medical staff couldn’t save him. Crish says the inmate apparently used a bed sheet to hang himself.

Crish says the man was housed alone on “medical lockdown” because he had a broken arm. He’d been booked into the county jail Saturday for a 30-day sentence for not appearing at a hearing about a failure to pay child support.

An autopsy was planned. The sheriff has asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to help review what happened.

Ohio VA ex-official testifies about sharing sensitive info

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The former director of Veterans Affairs medical centers in Cleveland and Dayton has testified that he got confidential information from officials in Washington and passed it on to people who paid him as a consultant.

The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports William Montague testified Tuesday at the federal trial of an architect accused of benefiting from that arrangement when bidding on projects.

Montague’s cooperation with prosecutors was part of an agreement under which he pleaded guilty to more than 60 counts, including money laundering and disclosing public contract information. In exchange, he could get a shorter prison sentence.

The media group says his testimony marks the first time the 64-year-old Brecksville man has talked publicly at length about details of his alleged crimes.

Escaped teen robbery suspect is found at Ohio library

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Federal authorities say a 17-year-old robbery suspect who escaped from a juvenile detention center was taken back into custody at a northeast Ohio library after three days.

Members of a U.S. Marshals task force spotted him leaving an Akron library on Tuesday, wearing a hat and dark sunglasses.

The young man from Akron had left the Summit County Juvenile Justice Center on Saturday evening, possibly through an unlocked door.

Authorities say he’s facing possible trial as an adult because of the seriousness of his alleged crimes. He is accused in several robberies, including helping an 18-year-old woman with two armed robberies in December. The teen has pleaded not guilty.

He’s also expected to be charged in connection with the escape from the juvenile center.

2 separate suspected murder-suicides reported in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police are investigating two suspected murder-suicides in different parts of Ohio.

Investigators in the Columbus suburb of Whitehall say a roommate reported finding a 54-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman dead in a home Monday evening. Police say the deceased pair previously lived together but separated. They believe the man shot the woman, then killed himself.

Police also were investigating a possible murder-suicide in the Akron area Tuesday. Doylestown police say a patrol officer intended to pull over a van driver for not stopping at a traffic light but the vehicle went off the road and hit a tree. The officer found a gun on the seat beside the driver and concluded he’d shot himself.

Police notifying his next-of-kin found a woman dead at a home in nearby Springfield Township.

Police: High school teacher sent nude photos to student

NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — Officials say a former central Ohio high school teacher admitted to exchanging nude photographs with an underage female student.

The Columbus Dispatch reports 26-year-old Jacob Burns was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of disseminating material harmful to a juvenile. He will serve 20 days in jail.

Burns was in his third year teaching English at Newark High School, where he was also an assistant football coach. He was suspended March 3 and resigned March 26.

School administrators contacted police after an investigation determined Burns had discussed engaging in sexual conduct with a student and was using the smartphone app Snapchat to exchange nude pictures.

Burns’ attorney says her client stopped communication on his own and cooperated with school and police.

Authorities didn’t release the girl’s age.

Police: 20-year-old man falls to death in vacant building

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police say a 20-year-old man fell to his death while exploring a dangerous abandoned building in Columbus’ Arena District.

The Columbus Dispatch reports Frank Faught died early Tuesday morning after falling at least 20 feet inside the vacant building on West Nationwide Boulevard.

The site was formerly a municipal power plant, with its oldest portion constructed in the 1880s. It has been dormant for about 30 years.

Police say Faught gained access to the building by walking up an exterior conveyer belt. He was accompanied by his 17-year-old sister Abigail and 18-year-old cousin Juston Rayburn.

Rayburn says Faught was somehow electrically shocked and fell onto an interior room’s ceiling.

Police say responders had to move past live electrical wires and asbestos to get to Faught.

OSU hospital agrees to pay $7,000 for patient’s lost rings

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center will pay a 93-year-old former patient $7,000 for apparently throwing away rings that were removed by staff members before a surgery last year.

The Ohio Court of Claims signed off on a settlement last week between Catherine Goodyear of Reynoldsburg and the Columbus hospital.

Goodyear claimed that hospital staff removed her diamond engagement ring, gold wedding band and a pearl and diamond ring before her October 2014 surgery and placed them in a biohazard bag. The rings were gone when she got back to her room, and she assumed they had been thrown away.

The hospital agreed to compensate her $7,025 but did not admit liability.

Akron man hid cameras in women’s restrooms, gets 17 months

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Akron man was sentenced to 17 months in prison for hiding cameras in women’s restrooms during two separate incidents last year.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports 33-year-old Curtis Von Tacky pleaded guilty in June to two misdemeanor voyeurism counts and a felony charge of attempted tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors say Von Tacky deleted the contents of his cellphone after being apprehended.

The first incident occurred in May 2014 at an Akron embroidery shop. Prosecutors say Von Tacky hid an iPhone in a tissue box in the women’s restroom.

In Sept. 2014, prosecutors say Von Tacky placed another camera in the restroom of a country club where he worked as a valet.

Von Tacky was ordered to register his address for 15 years as a Tier I sex offender.

Ohio medical school settles suit over gauze left in woman

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A university in northern Ohio will pay a Toledo woman $250,000 after a doctor at its medical center left a piece of surgical gauze in her body.

The Ohio Court of Claims approved the settlement last week between the University of Toledo and the woman who filed a lawsuit after what she said were a series of botched surgeries.

She has said that she suffered bladder, pelvic and other internal problems after the procedures in 2013. The woman says a doctor left a piece of gauze in her body and then performed more surgeries on her.

A spokesman for the university declined to comment.

The woman’s attorney tells The Blade newspaper in Toledo that a state law that caps pain and suffering claims limited how much money the woman received.

Ford starts production of medium-duty trucks in Ohio

AVON LAKE, Ohio (AP) — Ford is shifting the assembly of its medium-duty pickup trucks from Mexico to a plant in Avon Lake, west of Cleveland.

The company said it is starting production of new Ford F-650/F-750 trucks on Wednesday at its Ohio Assembly Plant. It’s the first time the trucks are being built in the U.S.

The move announced in March was part of a pledge Ford made with union leaders in 2011 to shift medium-duty truck production from Mexico. The company said it invested $168 million in the plant to make the change.

The 2016 F-650/F-750 models will be available for sale this summer.

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