The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 18, 2009

UPDATE: Crime knows no bounds

Anti-violence march planned

By Tom Davidson

SHENANGO VALLEY — Blood doesn’t respect city lines.

People from Sharon, Farrell, West Middlesex, Sharpsville and Warren, Ohio, are suspected in the Nov. 6 drug-related shootout on Wallis Avenue that left 18-year-old Sharon resident John B. Hosey III dead, Sharon Police Chief Michael Menster said.

“It’s not just a problem with Sharon or the City of Farrell, it’s a valley-wide problem,” Menster said.

It’s getting a Shenango Valley-wide response from law enforcement and community organizers. Concerned Hermitage parent Jennifer Bailey is working with community organizer Marcia Brown to put together an anti-violence march to be held Dec. 6.

“We’re not saying this is a Sharon thing or a Farrell thing, parents from all over are going to be involved in this,” Ms. Brown said.

Hosey’s death was the first homicide in Mercer County this year, District Attorney Robert G. Kochems said. It’s the second tied to a drug-related robbery since 2008, when on Dec. 21 Detroit native Troy Lamont Coleman was killed in Farrell.

They are the only deaths tied to robberies in recent memory, Kochems said.

It took almost a year for people to be charged in the Coleman case and police are still sorting out who did what that led to Hosey’s shooting. Seven men have been charged in the case so far.

“In this case we did have a good degree of cooperation when canvassing the neighborhood,” Menster said.

But investigating many crimes is tough because people don’t cooperate.

“Whether it’s a homicide or a robbery, a lot of times we don’t get a lot of cooperation; people don’t want to get involved,” Menster said.

“People have to take responsibility for their own neighborhoods. When they see illegal activity they need to tell us about it. That’s how crimes are solved.”

The people who keep quiet are often the victims of crime, making stopping the problem tough, Kochems said.

“That doesn’t give us a chance,” he said. “The community has to get involved now.

“We are not getting the attention or the respect of the criminal element and that is not acceptable,” Kochems said.

For things to improve, folks need to let it be known that crimes won’t be tolerated in their neighborhoods, he said.

The same people keep being arrested for similar crimes and the tolerance of some members of the community with regard to these criminals keeps the cycle going.

“They’re (the criminal’s) being told it’s OK to be like this,” Kochems said.

“If the public will say ‘No’ to these people,” crime would drop, he said.

Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Det. Chris Hosa said activities like the planned anti-violence march is a step in the right direction.

“That is a great idea for the community to get involved; we can’t do it without them,” Hosa said. “We need them and they need us and we can only do it together.”

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