Man fails to show up for court appearance

The man failed to make a court appearance.
By JOHN W GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Police and city health officials had a difficult time making Robert Shields leave the North Randolph Street home in which he took refuge; now they are having an equally difficult time making him show up for court.
Girard Municipal Court officials said Shields failed to show up for court to answer felony charges of obstructing official business and misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass. An arrest warrant was issued last Thursday.
Police reports say Jim Dobson, city health commissioner, went to the Randolph address earlier this month escorted by police to condemn the home and give Shields 24 hours to vacate the premises. Upon returning the next day, reports said, officials forced their way into the home to find the inside uninhabitable.
Dobson said the owner of the house recently had died and left it to her son in Texas. Shields, he said, is another one of the woman's sons.
House's condition
Dobson said the house was in deplorable condition with animal feces throughout the inside, six cats roaming the interior and no utilities. Clutter could be seen in the home through the windows, and some windows in the area of the porch are missing.
"Our housing code says you must have water. You cannot live in a house here without water," Dobson said.
After forcing their way into the home, officials found Shields kneeling next to a bed in an upstairs bedroom. He had a large wooden cross across his back and was uttering the Lord's Prayer, reports said. Shields made his arrest difficult for officers by making his body limp, reports said.
Dobson condemned the home after inspecting it. He said the owners will have to decide what to do with the house.
"I am going to condemn it on unsanitary conditions," he said. "They are going to have to clean the house up or sale it. That is up to them."
jgoodwin@vindy.com