Friday, July 23, 2004
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A grand jury has indicted an ex-convict on charges of stalking the leader of the Cleveland Roman Catholic Diocese.
Alvin Hardy, 50, of Cleveland, was charged with two counts of stalking, four counts of aggravated menacing and two counts of inducing panic involving alleged threats against Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason.
Hardy is accused of going to church offices in Cleveland between June 21 and 23, demanding money and threatening to kill Bishop Pilla. The bishop was unaware of the alleged threats, and security officers kept the man away from the bishop, Mason said Wednesday.
Hardy was paroled Dec. 10 after serving nine years of a 15-year term for firing a gun in the Cleveland public library in 1994. He initially had been ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Bishop Pilla, 71, has led the eight-county diocese since 1980.