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Warren's Olympic Inn has been source of numerous 911 calls, police say
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The woman shot in the head while sleeping in her home next door to the Olympic Inn tavern had called 911 about gunshots at the tavern two weeks earlier.
Pamela Dial, 43, of 1175 Parkman Road NW, who remains in critical condition in Cleveland MetroHealth Hospital, called 911 July 21 to report hearing gunfire coming from the Olympic Inn at 1:47 a.m.
There was a 911 call from another person at 12:11 a.m. the next day reporting gunfire and one at 12:48 a.m. July 25 about a man pulling a gun on someone at the bar, Warren police said.
During the July 22 call, police found four used bullet casings in the parking lot and arrested a 23-year-old man for reportedly resisting arrest and obstructing official business while police were there investigating the gunfire.
Since Jan. 1, the bar has been the source of 35 911 calls, according to Warren Police Department records. Many were for disturbances, assaults, noise and traffic accidents.
The bar closed after Dial was shot at 2:15 a.m. Saturday and has not reopened since.
Police say it appears the gunshot that hit Dial came from the parking lot at the Olympic Inn.
There is a hole in the siding of Dial’s home and a hole in a wooden fence between the house and the bar. The holes suggest the bullet came from the direction of the tavern entrance, which is only about 60 feet from the bullet hole in the house.
Police continue to investigate but have made no arrests.
Warren Councilman Eddie Colbert, who said he had talked informally with Dial the day before the shooting and other times about the tavern, said he believes police have taken steps to address the problem, but he’d like to see more done.
Colbert believes some of the 144 calls at the tavern in the past three years would suggest that the tavern might qualify as a nuisance and could be shut down as a result.
He also would like to see the reinstatement of the narcotics unit and the overall staffing level of the department increased as a result of the violence and criminal activity in the city over the past two months.