After being the victim of break-ins several times in recent weeks, Eddie Sabbah had scheduled an appointment tomorrow to have ADT install a security system at his East Avenue home.

“I have to call them back now and tell them I have no home,” he said shaking his head this morning.

Fire broke out in his home early today. The call came in about 4:30 this morning, according to fire Capt. Joseph Pronesti. East Avenue remains blocked off between 16th Street and Wooster and will be for several hours while the Building Department comes in to demolish the house, 1254 East, which is a total loss.

Sabbah is just happy to be alive, though.

He said he would have been sleeping in the upstairs bedroom if he hadn’t been dog-sitting for a friend.

His friend, Walter Edmonds, was away in Columbus and came back to Cleveland last night but didn’t make it home till early morning he said. Sabbah fell asleep on his couch.

Pronesti said the fire apparently started in the front of Sabbah’s house and the cause remains under investigation.

Sabbah worked this morning to salvage what he could from the home — mostly clothes and toys belonging to his 18-month-old son, Vincent, who lives with him part time. He hauled out a small, older TV — his flat screen was taken, he explained, in one of the break-ins.

He suffered a heart attack five weeks ago and said he’s without his medication, also taken during one of the break-ins.

Red Cross came to the scene to assist him, but he said he plans to stay with Edmonds while he works with his insurance company to find a permanent solution.

The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force released its latest most-wanted list Wednesday afternoon and had both Lorain Countians on the list in custody in just over a day.

Robert Cruz

They announced yesterday afternoon the arrest of John Wilson, 28, of Elyria, who was wanted on two counts of felonious assault involving a domestic incident on July 8 in Elyria.

Later yesterday evening, Brook Park police took in Robert Cruz, 43, of Lorain, Andrew Deserto, assistant chief deputy U.S. Marshal, said today.

Cruz was wanted on a warrant for burglary and a parole violation involving a robbery, according to Deserto.

Deserto didn’t have specifics on Cruz’s cases but said he was known to be “very violent” and had “numerous arrests involving violence.”

He said Cruz was taken into custody without incident at his uncle’s home in Brook Park, where he’d been staying.

Deserto said Cruz’s and Wilson’s arrests were directly the result of tips from the public.

“It shows the community really does care,” he said.

Since the Dangerous Dozen most-wanted list was started this summer, all seven Lorain County fugitives on the list have been taken in to custody. The list has resulted in 11 arrests total, he said.

“We’ve had a great response from the public out there,” he said of Lorain County. He said the Marshals Service is even exploring the idea of implementing a “fugitive of the week” program for Lorain County, similar to one it currently runs in the Cleveland area.

He said the next Dangerous Dozen list will be released in early September. He expects to include two more Lorain County fugitives as long as they are “good cases that meet the standard.”

“You might see some familiar faces” on the list, he added. “These really are the most wanted” people in our area, he explained.

ELYRIA — An Elyria man was arrested for obstructing official business and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to an Elyria police report.

Michael Crawford, 34, was being held Monday in the Lorain County Jail.

According to the report, officers were called to 835 Broad St. after two white men were seen with guns.

An officer arrived to find one of the men walking north on Water Street. As soon as the officer yelled for the man to stop, he began to run, police said.

The man ran face-first into a tree and was apprehended by police, the report said. He told officers he ran because he had needles in his pockets.

He told police his name was Josh Sumen, but his ID in his pocket said he was Michael Crawford, the report said. When police asked him if he was Michael Crawford, he said he was.

Police ran his name and found out he had an active warrant through the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, the report said. Officers searched him and found suspected crack cocaine, a chrome pipe and a small baggie of marijuana, the report said. They also located half a pill of OxyContin that was not prescribed to him.

Officers contacted the real Josh Sumen, who was the owner of the vehicle Crawford was found with, the report said. Sumen said he had picked Crawford up in Olmsted Township and had no weapon.

An officer’s Oakley sunglasses, valued at about $75, were damaged during the foot pursuit, the report said.

ELYRIA — An Elyria man was arrested for domestic violence after he stabbed his wife in the thigh, according to police.

Gibson

Travis Gibson, 30, is jailed on $2,500 bond, according to the county jail.

Officers were sent to 221 George St. yesterday after a 911 hangup call came in about 12:30 a.m., according to a police report.

They arrived to find Gibson on the porch of the home. His wife, Renee, 38, walked out of the home and said their dog had bit her in the leg. Gibson confirmed that, and officers observed Renee Gibson’s pajama pants were bloody. Officers left.

A few minutes later they were called back to the home because Renee Gibson had called and changed her story. She wasn’t bitten by a dog, she told a dispatcher, but had been stabbed by Travis Gibson.

She told officers her husband had left and was walking near East Avenue and Ninth Street. Officers found him there and cuffed him.

Renee Gibson told officers she and her husband were arguing about him cheating on her when he grabbed a knife off the dresser and was pointing it at her. They were going back and forth calling each other names when he grabbed her arm and threw her across the bed, the report said. That is when she was cut on the left thigh by the knife, she said.

Travis Gibson told officers he was leaving and was packing his clothes.

Renee Gibson did not explain why she initially claimed to have been bitten by the dog but said that when her husband left she called police back and explained what had happened.

Renee Gibson signed a domestic violence complaint against her husband, and he was taken to the Lorain County Jail.