LORAIN — After more than 30 years of service, Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera announced Thursday the retirement of Capt. William Engle effective tomorrow.

Engle was hired in 1980, was promoted to sergeant in 1992, lieutenant in 1994 and to captain in 2001.

Engle was an original member of the Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) Team and is a past commander of the support services division.

“Bill has been an integral part of every major improvement for the Lorain Police Department in the past 15 years,” Rivera said. “His knowledge and willingness to delve into complicated issues and come up with solutions will be sorely missed on a personal and professional level.”

As a result of Engle’s retirement, Lt. James McCann will be promoted to captain of police, Sgt. Ed Super will become a lieutenant, Officer Ken Zapolski will be promoted to sergeant and Wesley Fordyce will be sworn in as a new police officer.

Rivera also announced the unveiling tomorrow — of a $30,000 memorial to the three Lorain Police Officers killed in the line of duty — a project several years in the making.

The memorial, a bronze statute of a police officer, will be shown at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow in front of City Hall alongside the Workers Memorial.

The memorial honors:

• Ptl. Fred Webber, 37, shot twice Dec. 23, 1923, trying to arrest a drunken gunman. Webber was shot in the back and died clutching the gunman after having wrestled him to the ground. An investigation showed Webber may have been killed by friendly fire as other officers were also involved in the chase and shooting.
• Ptl. Charles Deal, 39, was the fatal victim of a hit-and-run driver Nov. 6, 1925. Deal was directing traffic at the scene of an auto-truck accident. Deal’s calls for help were ignored by the next five cars to pass and he died of his injuries on the way to the hospital. The father of a 19-year-old Lorain man brought the teenager to the station a few days later to confess to hitting Deal. A grand jury failed to indict the man.
• Ptl. George Kirk, 57, was found face down at the bottom of an elevator shaft March 30, 1944. The elevator was at the second floor of the Lorain Hardware warehouse. The doors were found unlocked and open 18 inches. Kirk’s death remains unsolved.

LORAIN — Family and friends of U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Heath Kirk of Lorain, injured in Afghanistan, have organized a public welcome home party and motorcade for Saturday evening.

Kirk

Kirk, 21, was severely wounded in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in September 2009, where he lost a leg. After two months of surgeries and recuperation, Kirk has been newly fitted with a prosthetic leg and is returning home.

The American Legion Post 397 in Vermilion on state Route 60 has donated space for 500 to enjoy a complimentary spaghetti dinner, pop and entertainment for the whole family from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. A cash bar will also be available.

There is no cost to attend. The family is asking residents to line the motorcade where Kirk, escorted in a limousine, will drive through the Lorain neighborhood where he lived, pass Southview High School from where Kirk graduated and finally drop Kirk off at the American Legion in Vermilion at 6:30 p.m.

The motorcade route is still being worked out. Check back at Chroniclet.com for more details as they become available.

Family friend, Laura Hall, sister to Lance Cpl. David R. Hall of Lorain, who died Aug. 31 in Afghanistan, is helping to organize the event.

Kirk will talk attendees from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. about how he was injured and what happened Sept. 21 when he was injured.

“It’s unbelievable to hear his story,” Hall said. “It will change people. He’s an incredible young man and his story is overwhelming. It will build a lot of awareness and appreciation of the work that they do.”

Businesses including Giant Eagle and Bullfrog Sports Café have donated food, pop and paper products for the event. A DJ has donated his time and family-centered activities like face-painting will be available for children.

Hall said the welcome home party is the least Kirk’s friends and family could do.

“We have an obligation to stand up and say thank you to our soldiers,” she said. “He stood for all of us. We ask that everybody come out and listen to his story.”

LORAIN — A family picnic turned into a family brawl Monday with several people throwing punches.

When police arrived at the residence in the 2200 block of Oakdale Avenue at 3:40 p.m., approximately 20 people were yelling and arguing, according to a police report.

A 24-year-old Lorain woman began arguing with two other females, one of them 15 years old, when the teenager’s 44-year-old father intervened, police said. The man is also the wife of the other female victim.

The 24-year-old punched both women in the face and then began hitting the father’s car with a cooking pot, breaking at least one taillight, police said.

The 24-year-old woman, wanted on a warrant, left the area and a short while later, two of her brothers arrived at the picnic and attacked the 44-year-old man who’d defended his wife and daughter, police said.

Half the family claimed the 24-year-old woman started the fight while the other half claimed the 44-year-old started it, police said.

No charges were filed.

CT photo by Bruce Bishop.

Phillips

SHEFFIELD TWP. — An 18-year-old man has been charged with torching the playground at Vincent Elementary School early Saturday and later calling in a false report that the school itself was on fire.

Ernest Phillips, who lives a few blocks away from the school, is charged with arson, vandalism, breaking and entering, inducing panic, tampering with evidence, making false alarms and obstructing official business.

Lorain County sheriff’s Capt. Jim Drozdowski said Phillips confessed to starting the fire when he was questioned while he was in custody at the county jail this weekend.

Saturday’s fire was the second blaze at the playground in the past two years.

Read Wednesday’s Chronicle for more on this story.