Displaying items by tag: Canton police

A suspect is in custody in connection to threats that were made against several Goodwill stores across Northeast Ohio this week.

Canton Police and the FBI located Giovanni Stanley of Canton, who is now charged with multiple felonies, including making terroristic threats and inducing panic. 

According to a release from Goodwill Industries (see below), Stanley is a former employee of the Canton store on Atlantic Boulevard and was hired in September of this year.

Because of the threats Stanley made via email and telephone, Goodwill was forced to close 22 retail stores and five donation centers Tuesday and Wednesday this week. All of the stores except the Canton store on Atlantic are back open today.

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(Goodwill Industries) Canton, OH – December 9, 2021 – An arrest was made today of a suspect in the threats that were made earlier this week to Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio (GIGCECO). The Canton Police Department, with help from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, have arrested Giovanni Stanley of Canton. He is being charged with making terroristic threats and inducing panic, both felonies.

Stanley was an employee of the Goodwill retail store located at 2630 Atlantic Blvd. in Canton. He was hired in September of 2021 and worked as a donations processor for the agency.

“We are relieved to have resolution to this very difficult incident,” explained President and CEO Anne Richards. “We are incredibly grateful to our local law enforcement who moved quickly to investigate these threats and ultimately make an arrest. Our agency, our staff and the community are so thankful for their persistence.”

Stanley is accused of making anonymous threats by email and phone to Goodwill on Tuesday, December 7 which ultimately forced the agency to close its 22 retail stores and five donation centers on Tuesday and Wednesday. As a precaution, the neighboring Goodwill in Akron also closed its stores and donation centers. Stores outside of Stark County were open normal hours today while police continued to investigate and make this arrest.

All Goodwill stores, with the exception of the Atlantic Blvd location in Canton, will be open tomorrow, Friday, December 10. The Atlantic Blvd. store will reopen Tuesday, December 14 with additional security. Staff at this site will be compensated for time missed. And, those team members will be offered counseling services.

“I think we all can breathe a collective sigh of relief that we have found answers, “ added Richards. “Now we can begin to find our way back to a sense of normalcy and continue to do what we do best…serve the needs of our community.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Canton Police are reporting that they have arrested Travonce R. Backie in connection to the brutal beating of an elderly man in the city last Saturday. 

Backie is now charged with attempted murder, felonious assault, and more. 

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Canton Police have identified the suspect in the brutal assault of an elderly man. 

According to reports, on Saturday night at about 10:40, 85-year-old Ralph White was driving near the 2500 block of Eighth Street Northeast when the suspect slammed pulled out of a nearby parking lot and crashed into White's vehicle. That's when the suspect got out of his car and for unknown reasons brutally asaulted Mr. White who was still in his own driver's seat.

Initially, it was reported that Canton Police had located a suspect vehicle and have a person of interest, but no arrest had been made. Later Tuesday, the Canton Police department released a photo of their suspect, 32-year-old Travonce R. Backie. A warrant for felonious assault has been issued for Backie. Anyone with information is asked to call Canton Police at 330.649.5800. 

The U.S. Marshals Service is also looking for Backie and a $3,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. 

Meanwhile, Mr. White was hospitalized for a couple of days with serious facial injuries.

Three of the five inmates who escaped from a Canton correctional facility last week are back in custody. 

Back on February 10th, Michael Fisher, Jaden Miller, Joshua Bingham, Jason Drake, and Vincent Blanc all escaped custody from the Stark County Regional Community Corrections Center. 

The Canton Division of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is reporting that Miller was arrested shortly after the escape and that Bingham was picked up on Friday the 14th.  

According to a report, Fisher was picked up by U.S. Marshals with the help of the Canal Fulton Police Department's K9 Unit early Thursday morning at a home in the 1300 block of Stark Street Southwest in Canton. In addition to the escape charges, Fisher is facing new burglary charges out of Canton.

Blanc and Drake remain at large and police say anyone who knows where they are and is not reporting them to police could be facing criminal charges. 

Anyone with information concerning any wanted fugitive can contact the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED (1-866-492-6833), or you can send a web tip at this website. 

Jay Miller, 50, was arrested Wednesday, charged with the attempted abduction of four girls at Weis Park in Canton.

According to the report from Canton Police, at about 5:41 p.m. Wednesday, Miller is alleged to have approached the group of children between the ages of 6 and 11-years-old and threatened to duct tape their mouths, hit them over the heads with a hammer, and drag them to his car.

Miller reportedly then drove off, but a witness got a picture of his license plate. He was arrested at a home on 32nd Street shortly after the incident late yesterday afternoon.

Miller's first court appearance is scheduled for Friday morning at 9 a.m.

Canton Police are looking for help finding missing 17-year-old Brooklyn Moody who they say isn't taking the medication that she needs. 

According to the report, Brooklyn ran away from her foster home on Halloween last year and hasn't been seen since. Police say, however, that she did contact her case worker back in December, only telling them that she was in Cleveland; not leaving any other specifics. 

Brooklyn has been diagnosed with depression and PTSD and takes medication that police say she doesn't have. 

She's listed at 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Canton Police Department at 330-489-3144.

The Department of Justice is recognizing the efforts of local law enforcement in the fight against opioid addiciton, honoring Canton Police Detective Mike Rastetter and the work of the department's Stark Outreach Support team.

The S.O.S. team consists of Detective Rastetter, who works VICE, a social worker and a nurse who connect with recent overdose victims and help get them into treatment.

S.O.S. has been operational for a little over a year, and in that time the city of Canton has seen a decrease from 55 overdoses in 2016 to 31 last year.

Detective Rastetter was recently in D.C. to receive the DOJ awad for innovation in community policing.