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State Briefing

This May 25, 2017, photo provided by WHIO-TV shows the damaged canopy and facade of a Sunoco gas station in New Carlisle, Ohio. Following severe overnight storms in western Ohio, suspected tornado damage was reported Thursday, May 25, 2017, in Clark, Greene and Miami counties north and east of Dayton, Ohio. (McCall Vrydaghs/WHIO-TV via AP)

Tornadoes damage businesses

MIDDLETOWN — Tornadoes that swept through southwest Ohio tossed drainage pipes through the glass windows of a motorcycle shop and heavily damaged a handful of homes. There were no reports of serious injuries from the storm Wednesday night. Two tornadoes touched down in Clark County and one in Miami County. Damage also was reported in Greene County. Some of the heaviest damage was in the community of Park Layne just northeast of Dayton, where a gas station was destroyed. At least four mobile homes and the motorcycle dealership also were damaged. The storm also disrupted Xenia High School’s graduation at Wright State’s basketball arena. Students were told to move off the floor and away from a large scoreboard that hangs overhead.

No criminal charges for police

ELYRIA — No police officers will be charged criminally after a child pornography suspect hanged himself in a holding cell at a northeast Ohio police station. An investigation found no wrongdoing by Elyria police in 47-year-old James Fitzpatrick’s death in March. Fitzpatrick was arrested after police found child pornography during a search of his Elyria home. Fitzpatrick told detectives the images had probably been “bundled” with other files he’d downloaded. The sheriff’s office investigation says officers periodically checked on Fitzpatrick in a holding cell and became concerned after seeing him standing at the cell’s toilet for an extended period of time. That’s when officers discovered he had hanged himself by tying his shoelaces to a ceiling vent.

Polar bear cub to move to Utah

TOLEDO — A playful polar bear that is popular among Toledo Zoo visitors is moving to Utah. One-year-old Hope is being transferred to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City this fall. She will be joining Nora, whose elderly partner died shortly after the bear arrived at the Oregon Zoo. Zoo officials said the bears are important for breeding purposes and for research on the effects of climate change. Hope has been staying with her mother Crystal at the Toledo Zoo. She was the seventh cub born at the zoo since 2006. Zoo officials say Crystal will be reunited with her mate after Hope leaves. The zoo could have another cub along the way if the bears are ready to breed this year.

Emirati man sues hotel, cops

CLEVELAND — An Emirati man who was detained by police at an Ohio hotel after a clerk heard him speaking Arabic and thought he was pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group sued the hotel chain, police and others, claiming he was the victim of an “unjustified SWAT-style assault.” The incident occurred in June 2016 when Ahmed al-Menhali, 41, tried to check into a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon for an extended stay. Al-Menhali and his wife had been living temporarily in Ohio while he received medical treatment at the Cleveland Clinic following open heart surgery the previous February, says the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cleveland. Al-Menhali was dressed in traditional Emirati clothing — a robe, headscarf and headband — when he spoke with the clerk and was told no rooms were available, the lawsuit says. When al-Menhali began talking on a cellphone in Arabic, the clerk texted family members about a man “in full headdress” with multiple disposable phones “pledging his allegiance to ISIS.” The clerk’s sister and father called 911. Avon police responded with guns drawn, the lawsuit says. Officers ordered al-Menhali to drop his phone and get on the ground, stripped him of his shoes and threw of one of his phones into some bushes, according to the suit. He was handcuffed, and an officer placed a knee in his back while other officers searched his belongings before determining he wasn’t a terrorist.

Reporter’s confrontation reviewed

ELYRIA — Prosecutors in Ohio are reviewing surveillance video of a confrontation between a television news reporter and a woman who kicked him as he tried to interview her. The woman called 911 Monday to say she had kicked a reporter in the knee because he was holding a microphone in her car and wouldn’t let her close the door. The reporter, WOIO-TV’s Carl Monday, was trying to interview the woman at a gas station in Elyria, believing her to be involved in an online scam. The woman said Monday had stuck a camera in her face and grabbed her arm in an “aggressive” way.

Whistleblower ordered reinstated

CLEVELAND — Federal officials say Cleveland must reinstate a whistleblower who was demoted after raising concerns about staffing shortages and safety at Hopkins International Airport. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the city must pay Abdul-Malik Ali nearly $96,000 for lost income, pain and suffering and attorney’s fees. Ali sued after OSHA found he was demoted for alerting federal authorities. Ali says he was demoted from field maintenance manager in February 2015 after he told a FAA inspector his crews were understaffed during a recent snowstorm. The city has claimed the former airport director did not know of Ali’s conversation with the FAA before his demotion. The city says Ali was reassigned due to complaints he was a poor manager.

Two teens killed in crash

CHARDON — Two young Ohio women were killed in a crash when they failed to stop at stop sign. Myka Gray, 18, was driving in Geauga County when her car was hit by another car going through an intersection. Gray and her passenger, Kayleigh O’Brien, 19, both of Perry, were pronounced dead at a hospital. A 35-year-old woman and her 6-year-old son in the other car were treated for minor injuries. Police say everyone was wearing a seat belt. They do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor.

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