KOLISER'S CAPTURE Rizzotto hires lawyer to handle reward controversy
The lawyer says his client put his life on the line to set up the capture.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Florida man who expected $40,000 reward for the capture of a cop killer has hired a lawyer to challenge the way the reward is being distributed.
Boardman attorney Albert A. Palombaro said Friday that he represents John Rizzotto of Clearwater, Fla.
Martin Koliser Jr. shot and killed Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell downtown on April 29, 2003. Koliser then traveled to Florida and was captured there the nextg night with Rizzotto's help.
The reward, first offered April 30, 2003, grew from $10,000 to $25,500 that day and eventually reached $40,000.
A month ago, distribution of the reward was announced, with $10,000 going to Rizzotto and $7,500 each to one current and three former Independent Taxi drivers. The cabbies rushed to Hartzell's aid and called in the shooting that happened at 2:19 a.m. on West Federal Street near Vindicator Square.
The cabbies testified at Koliser's trial, as did Rizzotto.Palombaro said he sent a letter to Mayor George M. McKelvey and Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr., advising them that Rizzotto was solely responsible for providing information that led to Koliser's arrest.
The lawyer said his client not only worked with authorities but put his life on the line to set up Koliser's capture and is entitled to the full $40,000.
Palombaro said the proposed distribution of the reward is contrary to law. He said a reward is really a contract and Rizzotto performed under the terms of the contract.
Palombaro said he has requested that the city file what is called an "interpleader action" in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and deposit the $40,000 with the clerk of court.
Such an action would mean that Rizzotto and the four cabbies would each file a claim against the reward and let a judge decide how to divide it based on the facts.
Palombaro's letter was passed on to Law Director John A. McNally IV. McNally said Friday that he's studying Palombaro's request and declined further comment.
'Material witnesses'
The cabbies, Palombaro said, were material witnesses who had a civic duty to provide information to police and acted before the reward was offered. He said what they did led to the identification of Koliser but what Rizzotto did, after the reward was offered, led to the arrest and conviction.
Koliser's friend's sister, Lisa Ferguson, is engaged to Rizzotto. Ferguson put police in touch with Rizzotto from her Austintown apartment.
Rizzotto rented a room for Koliser at the Knight's Inn in Palm Harbor, Fla. Koliser surrendered after police surrounded the motel.
In April, a reward committee -- Bush, Capt. Robert Kane, chief of detectives, and Detective William Blanchard, fiscal officer -- recommended how to divide the money.
Palombaro said that, as far as he knows, only Rizzotto supplied city officials with a letter to lay claim to the reward.
When interviewed last month, Rizzotto said: "I was told I was getting the lion's share -- that was a lie. I was told 40 at first, then I was told 20." He said the cab drivers "didn't put their lives on the line."
Koliser, 31, is on death row at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.