Hotel manager charged with faking robbery

NILES -- The manager of 422 Motel is charged with staging a robbery of the motel to cover up the theft of money used to buy crack cocaine.
Norman Johnson, 49, who lived at the motel on U.S. Route 422, appeared Friday before municipal Judge Thomas W. Townley, who scheduled a preliminary hearing for 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Johnson is being held in the county jail in lieu of a $2,500 bond on charges of theft and falsification, both felonies.
Capt. Chuck Wilson said Johnson, who was on duty at the motel, and others were smoking crack Monday. They used several hundred dollars from the cash box to buy more of the drug, Wilson said.
Wilson said that Johnson realized the next morning that the money was gone.
Johnson faked the robbery, including hitting his head on a door to fake an injury, the police captain said. He was treated at St. Joseph Medical Center.