Cops ignored threat; fires followed

By Doug Livingston

TheNewsOutlet.org

YOUNGSTOWN

City police are at a loss to explain why a July 23 report detailing a threat of physical harm went largely ignored. The threat arose from a dispute over a car that was apparently involved in a crime.

As detailed in the report, a customer of an East Side used-car dealership reportedly threatened the owner and his nephew. The report also indicates the dealer accepted a car the customer said was used in a crime, but did not report that fact immediately to police. That could be considered a violation of city law.

The nephew’s house and car were set on fire three days after the dealer filed a report on the threat.

A preliminary determination by Youngstown Fire Department staff at the scene suggests arson.

Paul Parks, owner of P&J Auto Sales on Albert Street, bought a white 2000 Cadillac Sedan on July 9 from a woman and a man she said was her boyfriend. The boyfriend is the suspect in the threat and arson reports.

Parks told police the car was registered to the 29-year-old Schenley Avenue woman. According to a report, Parks told police the boyfriend said “he was always getting pulled over, and he had shot at somebody while he was driving the car.” The man is unidentified in police reports and unknown to Parks.

“It’s common. Every day,” Parks said of the deal in which the 2000 Cadillac was traded in for a 1999 Cadillac and $102.50 in taxes.

Parks, 60, said he later found chips in the windshield of the 2000 Cadillac that he suspected were from the expended shell casings that littered the floor of the vehicle.

Parks cleaned up the car and put it on his lot for sale.

“I just throw away the casings and go about my business,” Parks said.

Two weeks after Parks traded the car, the man returned, complaining the 1999 Cadillac he had received in the trade was overheating. The man stated he had a mechanic look at the car, but Parks requested the car be looked at by a dealership mechanic. The man refused.

According to police reports and a statement from Parks, the man threatened to shoot Parks and his nephew, John Gaia, if his 2000 Cadillac was not immediately returned.

In the July 23 report, Gaia told police the man told him, “If Paul don’t give me my car back, I am going to shoot up your house and your family. I know where you live, and I don’t have a problem with it because I have already done 10 years before.”

Three days later, Gaia’s car and residence were burned.

In a police report, a captain for the Youngstown Fire Department told police that “it seems that the auto … was set on fire, which led to the residence catching on fire.”

Alvin Ware, the fire department’s chief arson investigator, said tests on the Gaia’s burned residence and car were conducted and shipped to the state for evaluation July 26.

The cause of the fire is expected in one to two weeks, he said.

Youngstown Police Capt. Rod Foley said if Parks had reported the vehicle’s condition July 9, when the transaction occurred, “We would have followed up that morning.”

But why wasn’t the July 23 threat report investigated?

“A lot of times, it falls through the cracks,” Foley said. “A lot of times [detectives] look at the solvability of it,” and determine that no follow-up is needed.

“For some reason, [the July 23 report] wasn’t assigned,” Foley added. “I don’t know why it wasn’t assigned.”

Foley has since assigned the case to a detective and is trying to determine why the threat incident was not originally investigated.

Detective Nick Boubalis, who works in the Violence and Gun Reduction Interdiction program, thinks the investigation would be “an easy follow-up.” The suspect’s girlfriend is named in the police report. Boubalis added it is unfortunate that Parks did not mention the car was used in a crime to the police earlier this month.

Parks may be in violation of a city law, however.

Youngstown City Ordinance 525.05 states, “No person, knowing that a felony has been or is being committed, shall knowingly fail to report such information to law enforcement authorities.”

Parks said the man who sold him the 2000 Cadillac told him “the car is [targeted by police]; I need to get rid of it.”

The city ordinance goes on to say that if a witness is informed of a crime, it is his or her duty to report that activity to the authorities. Failure to report a crime is a misdemeanor.

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko and his staff refused to comment on the matter.

It is the responsibility of the dealerships to report this activity, even though talking to the police could bring about harmful repercussions, police officials said.

“We don’t want to put witnesses in danger,” Lt. Kevin Mercer said. “But, at the same time, we all have to do our part to keep the community safe from criminals.”

Some dealerships outside the city say they have never received a car used in a crime.

“I’ve been here 17 years,” said Mark Fabian, general sales manager for Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown, “I can’t even recall one.”

Others say the problem is more prevalent at buy-here, pay-here lots or smaller dealerships.

Mike Ali owns Magic Motors on Oak Street on the East Side. He said he sees one or two cars a year that have been used in a crime. He recently purchased a bullet-hole-ridden car from an auction.

He said he would contact police if a car in a similar condition were brought to his lot.

“Maybe this is something new that needs to be brought to our attention,” Mercer said of the frequency of cars’ being purchased at local dealerships that may have been used in crimes.

The NewsOutlet is a joint media venture by student and professional journalists and is a collaboration of Youngstown State University, WYSU radio and The Vindicator.