This story could be no better reason to avoid shopping at businesses which post "no-guns" signs. These signs act as an advertisment to criminals that there are firearms waiting to be stolen in the parking lot, and that there are defenseless customers waiting inside.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that area police are warning shoppers to "stay alert", because shoppers are not the only folks scouting for a good deal this holiday season.

"That's what the thieves are doing too — sizing up their victims," Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief John DiPietro told the newspaper. "(They) target their victim based upon the victim's inability to pay attention to their surroundings."

The more vigilant the shopper, the less susceptible he or she is to theft, he said:

"The thief is going to go on to someone else who is more unsuspecting."

DiPietro told the DDN the biggest problem in the Miami Valley area is purse snatching from women in parking lots, walking through malls and standing in grocery stores. DiPietro told the newspaper thieves prey on people bogged down with bags.

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Shoppers should have their keys ready before they leave the store, Marc Rospert, executive director of the Ohio Crime Prevention Association was quoted as saying.

Should a thief approach a person headed to the car, "have those keys ready almost as a weapon," he said, adding that he does not encourage violence or retaliation in most cases.

Shoppers should park in well-lit areas and try to walk to their car in groups, Rospert said.

Shoppers who are robbed are asked to get an accurate description of the thief, the vehicle and the direction he or she left.

"We want people to be the best witness," DiPietro said.

Rospert said shoppers should remain aware and cautious beyond the gift-giving season.

"What you're doing during the holiday season, you want to be doing all year long," he said.

Employee assaulted over trash request (Nov. 25, Garfield-Maple Sun)
A Garfield Heights woman assaulted a bar employee after she told her not to use the dumpster behind Tequila Sunrise, 4830 Turney Road. The worker told police she took the trash out Nov. 17 and saw the woman throwing her garbage in the bin that belongs to the business. She told her she was not allowed to put her refuse in the dumpster and went back inside the bar. She said a few minutes later, the woman came inside and punched her and threw her against the wall. Police issued a warrant for the suspect. She faces an assault charge.

Taco Bell worker robbed, beat up taking out trash (Nov. 25, Nordonia Hills Sun)
A Taco Bell employee was assaulted about 10:50 p.m. Nov. 6 while taking out the trash behind the store, 557 E. Aurora Road. The victim told police he was attacked by three men dressed in black and wearing ski masks. They beat up the worker and stole his wallet. He said he had about $10. The robbers punched him in the face and beat him to the ground. He was taken to Sagamore Medical Center for treatment.

Shoplifting suspect attacks store manager (Nov. 25, Cincinnati Enquirer)
A manager of the Kroger store in this western Hamilton County community was hit twice Wednesday by the car of a driver who was being pursued for shoplifting, authorities said. The manager, Larry Noschang, 52, was not hurt. A woman entered the store at 4001 Ohio 128 about 1 p.m. and filled a garbage can with about $200 worth of items, including meat, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. When the manager confronted her as she left the store, she dropped the can and hopped into a blue 1989 Pontiac Grand Am. She "tapped" the manager twice with the car as she drove off and he tried to write down her license plate number, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's spokesman.

Commentary:
When Ohio employers prohibit their workers from protecting themselves while traveling to and from work, when businesses disarm law-abiding customers in hopes of deterring violent criminals, and when a company sues to prevent employees from protecting themselves even when traveling to and from work, is it any wonder that the FBI says workplace killings are the fastest-growing homicide trend in the country?

Not only can Ohio employers and businesses prohibit guns on inside their buildings (the same prohibition could be made to apply to guns in company-owned or leased cars), they can also tell you what you may (not) keep in your car while in their parking lot. This simply should not be.

Related Stories:
Human right of self-defense doesn't end at the workplace

Why do so many employee manuals render workers defenseless?

Attacked in workplace parking lot

Proof: Citizens deserve right to choose self-protection in parking lots

Ohio's working families deserve right to self-defense to and from jobs

November 25, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer

Robbers get away in two bank robberies

COLERAIN TWP. - Authorities are investigating two bank robberies Wednesday. In both cases, a lone robber fired a weapon inside the bank. No one was hurt in either robbery, police said.

A masked gunman fired two bullets inside First Financial Bank, 10174 Colerain Ave., at 9:26 a.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. One bullet lodged in a wall near the bank manager, said Steve Barnett, sheriff's spokesman. The second bullet pierced the ceiling.

The robber took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled south on Colerain Avenue in a black SUV-type vehicle to westbound Interstate 275. Cash from the robbery was found in the bank parking lot, leading authorities to believe the money was dropped after a dye pack exploded.

The suspect was described as light skinned; 5-feet-7; wearing a black leather jacket, dark clothing, black ski mask, ball cap and dark gloves.

Later Wednesday, a man with a black cloth covering his face fired one shot as he robbed the U.S. Bank at 540 Main St. in Hamilton at 1:38 p.m., police said. The robber ran away carrying a green bag with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was described as a white male 6 feet tall and in his late 20s or early 30s.

Commentary:
Some banks continue to operate under the "conventional wisdom" that by posting "no-guns" signs they somehow keep their bank "safe". They use this same "wisdom" when an armed criminal walks in the door, believing that if they just give a criminal what he wants, he won't hurt anyone.

The first bit of wisdom, about "no-guns" signs and safety, has already been proven wrong. The day will come when the non-resistance part will also be proven wrong, and a "no-guns" bank will have to suffer injured (or worse) employees and customers as a result.

How much the better if future bank robbery stories in Ohio could read like this?:

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY

The robber fraternity apparently has failed to spread the word among its members that hitting the Bank of Clarkson, Kentucky, when banker Clyde Bratcher is on duty can be a fatal mistake. Bratcher was in his office one Tuesday afternoon when a man vaulted over the bank counter and declared, "This is a robbery!" Bratcher charged to the rescue, firing twice with a handgun whose shots fatally struck the bandit in the chest. He had protected the bank's assets in a similar manner only three years earlier by dispatching yet another would-be crook who walked into the bank wielding a rifle and wearing a stocking on his head. Bratcher's grandfather also named Clyde Bratcher was a bank president when, in 1958, he ran off three bandits, pointing at them with a gun whose 35-year old cartridges failed to fire.

Related Stories:
FBI: Ohio bank heists with violent component on the rise

Shots fired by robber at ''no-guns'' First Merit bank

November 18, 2004
Cleveland Sun Courier

BRECKSVILLE - Police are looking for a suspect in a chain of thefts that happened on Nov. 3. Three reports of thefts were reported around the area of the Chippewa Road Giant Eagle. They are believed to be related.

One man reported that a CD player and a spare wallet were taken from his pickup truck. The other two victims also reported items stolen from their cars.

All three incidents happened during the day and there were no witnesses for any of them.

Commentary:
How many guns would this criminal would have been able to steal if this had happened at one of the many Giant Eagle stores which are still posted with "no guns" signs?

In August, Giant Eagle spokesman Rob Borella told the Cleveland Sunday Magazine the chain has instructed its stores not to post "no gun" signs. But he also indicated some stores in Ohio are "independently owned." Perhaps this explains why the following stores still endanger and discriminate against their customers against company wishes: