Hilltop residents say they fought off 2 men looking for dope, cash
Wednesday, August 6, 2003

A Hilltop man took a knock on his head but managed to turn the tables on two armed robbers, including firing several shotgun blasts at them.

Roger Maynard said he was watching the end of Monday Night Football about 10:30 p.m. when two men burst through his front door at 235 N. Wayne Ave. and demanded money and drugs. Maynard said he had neither.

Maynard, 55, punched one robber in the face. The robber knocked Maynard to the floor with the butt of a shotgun, then held the gun on Maynard and his oldest daughter, Helen Wise, who had armed herself with a baseball bat when she heard the commotion.

The second robber took the bat and swung it around as a weapon while he looked for loot.

Two of Maynard's four granddaughters, his wife, and his other adult daughter, Melissa Maynard, were upstairs. His son-in-law, Jeff Wise, was downstairs with two of the girls hiding in a closet.

The granddaughters, ages 1, 2, 8 and 9, were not harmed. The 1-year-old slept through the ordeal, the family said.

Maynard's wife, Freda, 49, ran downstairs in time to see her husband get knocked down and another man charging at her. She threw a cup of hot coffee at him and tried to run back upstairs, but he grabbed her ankle and yanked her down.

"He just kept yelling at me, 'Where's the safe, where's the safe?' I just told him where to go look for it, but it took awhile for it to sink in that I was really telling him where it was,'' Mrs. Maynard said.

The Maynards said they are not drug abusers and don't know how the men knew they had a portable safe. It contained no money, they said.

Meanwhile, Maynard's daughter Melissa called 911.

Once the men had the safe they ran out the door to a waiting car. By then, Mr. Maynard had grabbed his own shotgun and loaded it. He fired three shots from an upstairs window, striking the getaway car.

The robbers dropped the safe. A third man waiting outside, apparently an accomplice, fled when Maynard fired the shotgun.

OFCC Commentary:
The Maynards are fortunate they didn't wait on a align="right"> response from the 911 call to save them. As with most incidences of violence, the police did not arrive until after the bad guys were gone.

Click here to read the entire story in the Columbus Dispatch.

Stories like this one printed in the Dispatch are all too rare. Dr. John Lott Jr. recently published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, entitled "Why don't media cover the good-news stories about guns?"

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read Lott's piece in it's entirety.

An OFCC supporter posted the following story to www.OhioCCW.org:

Bureau Leaves City After Vehicle Break-Ins

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Vandals and thieves aren't just hitting any cars in a downtown Youngstown parking garage.

City police and federal agents say their government cars have been repeatedly broken into and tactical equipment has been stolen.

The problem is so severe that it's the main reason the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is moving its district office to Boardman. The move came after a security analysis found no other safe location downtown.

ATF resident agent-in-charge Frank D'Alesio said the move will take place by late fall. He said the bureau has spent $20,000 on vehicle repairs since 2001.

Jeff Hamm, the parking garage manager, said his own car has been broken into. But the garage can't afford 24-hour security.

OFCC PAC Commentary:
Despite the growing rash of these types of crimes, the Ohio Senate voted to make leaving a firearm in your unattended automobile more of a necessity, by amending HB12 to create still more "victim zones" where firearms are prohibited.

Senate President Doug White has written a letter to his constituents, touting the Senate's "accomplishments" in the first six months of the 125th General Assembly, and providing a look ahead at the Senate's upcoming priorities.

Conspicuous in it's absence is any mention of House Bill 12, which the Senate is currently holding hostage, or the civil right to self-defense, a Constitutional right which Sen. White swore to uphold.

On April 30, the Gongwer News Service ran this headline: "WHITE SAYS CHAMBER WON'T LOOK TO TAFT FOR GUIDANCE ON GUN BILL".

In that same week, it appeared as though Taft wavered on his anti-self-defense rhetoric, and was perhaps floating a trial ballon for new-found support for the reform.

"He could support a concealed weapons bill if it includes significant training requirements, background checks and support of law enforcement groups," Holubec said. "Gov. Taft believes it is proper to take his cue from those working the front lines."

This was the first time Taft's office had ever mentioned the "front line", or rank-and-file aspect of law enforcement. "Front-line" law enforcement officers are well-known to be favorable of the right of self-defense for law-abiding citizens.

But something has changed in the weeks since Taft's trial balloon, and Sen. White's tough talk about not looking to Taft for guidance has been turned on it's head. The Taft administration was essentially allowed to write the worst of the worst of the Senate's amendments.

House Speaker Larry Householder, says "There’s no point in talking to the Senate. It’s handed all its lawmaking authority to the governor," Householder said. "It’s highly unusual to hand all your lawmaking authority to the governor."

White doesn’t agree. He says that when the Senate put its bill together it "engaged all parties," including the governor’s office. He has said previously there is no use passing a bill that Taft would veto because there were not the necessary 20 votes in the 33-member Senate to override a veto.

"I don’t think I abdicated to anyone," White said.

Even if we accept that he didn't abdicate his authority, he most certainly did go back on his pledge not to consider Taft when drafting amendments. And at the end of the day, the future of House Bill 12 lies at the feet of the Senate's Republican leadership.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for the full text of Sen. White's "accomplishments" letter, which was published in the People's Defender, a weekly newspaper from White's Senate District 14.

"We do not want a loaded firearm readily accessible to the driver of a car. If there's a dangerous situation and you're in your car, you can drive off." - Capt. John Born, Ohio State Highway Patrol.

"...Of all the changes made by the Senate, as a father, I am most proud of the work we did to ensure the safety of Ohio children under this bill." - Steve Austria, who chaired the committee which added Taft's "Carjacker Protection" provision in the Senate.

"The bill as passed by the Senate gives law-abiding citizens the opportunity to protect themselves by carrying a concealed weapon, while protecting the best interests and safety of all Ohioans." Senate President Doug White, who, according to media reports, is refusing to appoint conferees to iron out difference in the bill before sending it to Taft.

DAYTON | A Tuesday night homicide probably stemmed from a carjacking attempt, Dayton police said today.

James A. Gordon, 27, of Dayton, was driving north on Main Street at Fairview Avenue with his 13-year-old nephew at about 11:10 p.m. when a man approached the driver's side and started yelling, Lt. John Huber said.

Gordon tried to drive away and was shot in the chest, Lt. John Bardun said.

Police have no suspects. Gordon had no criminal history and appears to be an innocent victim, Huber said.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for much more.