An Avon Lake man was formally charged Thursday for allegedly spying on his fellow employees using a pen camera placed in the women’s restroom.

Mucha

James Mucha, 43, an employee of Catania Medallic, a supplier of metal awards and pins, was arraigned Thursday morning in Avon Lake Municipal Court on three counts of voyeurism, a third-degree misdemeanor, for allegedly putting a pen camera in a restroom at the company.

Mucha was also charged with possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, that was found during a search of his home.

Avon Lake police began the investigation March 25, after someone from the business, located at 668 Moore Road in Avon Lake, reported finding the camera.

Police Lt. Duane Streator said Mucha could be seen in video from the camera.

“He was observed in the camera repositioning it,” Streator said.

Analysis of video from the camera revealed three female employees using the restroom.

Contact Kiera Manion-Fischer at 329-7123 or kfischer@chroniclet.com.

ELYRIA – The assault charge against Elyria police Officer Jay Loesch – who is accused of punching a suspect handcuffed to a hospital bed – will be dropped if he completes a court-ordered diversion program.

Johnny Smith Jr., right, apologized to Elyria police Officer Jay Loesch, left, in court Thursday.

Johnny Smith Jr., the man Loesch is accused of hitting at EMH Medical Center in Elyria on Jan. 27, asked for the charges to be dropped during both a July 31 call to Elyria police and again Thursday during a hearing in Elyria Municipal Court.

“I just want to go on with my life and I don’t want anything bad to happen to this guy,” Smith told visiting Judge Michael Weigand on Thursday.

Smith said during the call to Elyria police that he believes Loesch may need counseling to deal with the events of March 15, 2010, when Elyria police Officer James Kersetter was gunned down by Ronald Palmer while responding to a call on 18th Street.

Loesch and Officer Donald Moss shot and killed Palmer when he refused orders to surrender and charged at Loesch.

Special Prosecutor John Reulbach Jr. said that counseling and sensitivity training is exactly what Loesch would get under the diversion program, which Weigand agreed to place the veteran officer in. If Loesch successfully completes the program, the charges against him will be dropped.

According to an internal police investigation, Smith was struck by Loesch after making a comment about Kerstetter’s death while he was being treated for injuries he received during his arrest earlier in the evening of Jan. 27.

Smith – who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.355, more than four times the legal limit for driving – told officers he wished Palmer had killed more officers the night Kerstetter died.

A nurse who watched the incident on a monitor connected to a video camera in Smith’s hospital room told police that Loesch and Officer Richard Walker shut the door after the comment. She told officers that Loesch then walked over to Smith and struck him once on the left side of his face.

Although Smith has said the blow nearly knocked him unconscious, Walker told police it wouldn’t have harmed his 10-year-old and was meant to get Smith’s attention.

“I didn’t deserve everything, but I deserved what he did to me,” Smith said during his call to police last month. “So I would just like to make right. I’m trying to be a better person.”

Smith apologized to Loesch on Thursday for the comment.

“I made an inappropriate comment, which was totally out of line and I’d like to apologize to you again,” Smith said during the hearing. “I forgive you. I hope you forgive me for what I said.”

“I appreciate it, man,” Loesch replied.

Following an internal police investigation Loesch was given a 10-day suspension for the incident, although he served only five days of it. He won’t have to serve the remaining five days if he doesn’t get in any further trouble for a year.

The city’s insurance company paid Smith $50,000 to avoid a lawsuit he had planned to file.

Loesch declined to comment after Thursday’s hearing, but his lawyer, Bob Phillips, said he believed justice was served in the case.

“He, too, is sorry that happened,” Phillips told Weigand. “In that sense we can forgive and forget and move forward.”

Before he was taken to the hospital on Jan. 27, Smith was arrested after police were called to Apples grocery store when Jeff Marcum stole beer and steaks and loaded them in the cab of the tractor-trailer Smith was driving.

Elyria police tracked the truck to a nearby parking lot and tried to get the men to get out. According to police reports, Smith nearly ran over Officer James Rider as he was trying to flag down the truck. Smith, however, insists he didn’t see Rider.

Police surrounded the truck on Cleveland Street and ordered the men out of the truck. Smith refused to get out, according to officers, who reported they had to forcibly remove him.

After he was pulled from the truck, Smith continued to struggle with officers until he was subdued and handcuffed, officers and witnesses said. Smith has said that he wasn’t resisting and was beaten by officers and that Rider struck him twice in the head with a flashlight.

The internal police probe and Reulbach’s investigation determined the allegations against Rider and other officers didn’t have any merit.

Marcum pleaded no contest to theft in the case, while Smith pleaded out to charges of failure to comply, obstructing official business and DUI. He served six months in the county jail before being released on probation in July.

Smith was arrested again earlier this month after testing positive for cocaine. Elyria Municipal Court Judge Lisa Locke Graves ordered him to serve a 120-day jail sentence because the failed drug test violated the terms of a plea agreement in a 2010 case in which he pleaded no contest to attempted unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Smith is due back before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery next month for allegedly violating the conditions of his probation in the case stemming from his January arrest after testing positive for cocaine.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — The shooting of two men about 10:50 p.m. Thursday in the 2200 block of Lorain Drive by the intersection of West 21st Street is under investigation by police.

The two victims are city men in their 20s, said police Sgt. Michael Hendershot, who wouldn’t give their names. He said one man was shot in the right hip and the other in the left buttock. Hendershot said both men were uncooperative and police are unsure if the shootings are connected.

One man was found at the scene while the other was driven to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain. The men were then taken by helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and St. Vincent’s Hospital in Toledo.

Indians catcher Carlos Santana wipes his forehead Wednesday as Seattle’s Dustin Ackley crosses the plate with another Mariners’ run in the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 9-2 loss at Progressive Field. (AP photo).

CLEVELAND — The Seattle Mariners are the lowest-scoring and worst-hitting ballclub in the American League.

Against the Indians, though, they look like the most explosive team on the planet.

Journeyman slugger Wily Mo Pena knocked in four runs and rookie third baseman Kyle Seager had three doubles Wednesday afternoon, powering the Mariners to a 9-2 victory over the free-falling Tribe.

The loss knocked Cleveland (63-64) below .500 for the first time since April 3, leaving the Indians six games behind Detroit in the AL Central Division with 35 games to play.

“For some reason, Seattle just beat us up and caught us at the wrong time,” said Indians manager Manny Acta, whose club has lost six of its last seven games. “Those guys hit us around pretty good the whole series.
“Really, this last week, we just didn’t pitch well, and that’s been our strength the whole season. This day off comes at a good time for us.”

Staff ace Josh Tomlin was the latest Tribe pitcher to be knocked around by Seattle (56-73), which banged out 51 hits and scored 29 runs in winning three times in the four-game set.

Tomlin (12-7, 4.25 ERA) only lasted 4 2/3 innings in the oven-like confines of Progressive Field, allowing six runs on 11 hits while striking out six. That performance also ended his MLB all-time record streak of 37 straight appearances of at least five innings to begin a career.

“I wasn’t thinking about that streak at all when I was out there, but I will now — and it doesn’t feel good,” said Tomlin, who failed in his bid to break the MLB mark of 37 consecutive, five-plus inning starts to open a career held by John Farrell.

“You don’t ever want to leave those guys (in the bullpen) out to dry, which is my worst fear. I just couldn’t put anyone away today, and every time I was missing, I was missing over the plate.”

Pena and Seager, of all people, did much of the damage from the 7-8 spots in the Mariners’ batting order. They reached base in all 10 of their plate appearances and collected five runs and five RBIs.

Designated hitter Pena, who was released by Arizona in July, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs, two runs, one walk, and a hit by pitch. He ripped a two-run homer off Tomlin in the fourth and a two-run double off the right-hander one inning later.

Seager — playing in just his 23rd MLB game — was 4-for-4 with three runs, one RBI, and one walk. All three of his doubles came in the first five innings as Seattle jumped out to a 6-2 lead and disposed of Tomlin.

“We couldn’t get him out. He just caught fire and killed us,” Acta said of Seager, who hit .769 (10-for-13) in the series. “It was the bottom of the order that really hurt Josh today with him and Pena.”

Mariners righty Felix Hernandez (12-11, 3.37 ERA) earned the victory with six innings of two-run ball, scattering seven hits while striking out 10.

Jamey Wright and Josh Lueke added six whiffs in relief, raising Cleveland’s team strikeout total to a season-high tying 16.

“We’ve been leading the league in that category for two years in a row, and we’re still striking out way too much,” Acta said. “It’s unacceptable when you don’t have a team loaded with sluggers, and it’s something we’ll address in the offseason and next spring.”

Left fielder Shelley Duncan led the Indians with three hits, while first baseman Matt LaPorta and shortstop Jason Donald had two apiece. Duncan and Jack Hannahan each had one RBI, coming in the third and fourth inning, respectively.

Seattle committed four errors in the game, giving it eight in the series, but the Tribe was unable to turn any of them into runs.

Cleveland reliever Rafael Perez also contributed to the misery by giving up the Mariners’ final three runs. He walked three and gave up two hits in his lone inning, the seventh.
Adding injury to insult, Cleveland outfielder Shin-Soo Choo experienced “left trunk soreness” during batting practice and was a last-minute scratch. He is listed as day-to-day.
Additionally, Indians catcher Carlos Santana took a foul ball off his head during Brendan Ryan’s at-bat in the ninth. He exited the game with neck pain.

“We’re not the only team that goes through injuries, so we’ve got to keep playing through it,” Tomlin said. “You saw what happened to us (being swept by Detroit and overpowered by Seattle in a six-day span). That could happen to anybody.

“This week will not make or break us, hopefully.”

Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com.