Man sues over demolished local buildings
An out-of-state building owner is suing Miamisburg and three other parties, claiming two of his five apartment rentals were torn down without proper notification.
The lawsuit filed late last week by Douglas Bruce of El Paso County, Colorado, is for no less than $1 million, attorney fees and court costs. It lists the causes of the legal action as “deprivation of property” and “violation of due process.”
Bruce purchased 609 Cherry Hill Drive and 621 Cherry Hill Drive in Miamisburg in or around 2013, according the lawsuit, which also was filed against Miamisburg Mayor Michelle Collins, Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Treasurer Russell Joseph. The five apartment buildings — all two-bedroom units — were demolished by the city, “thereby destroying any reasonable economic value or use for the properties,” the lawsuit maintains.
“Defendants maintain certain policies, practices, and ordinances through which they have permitted themselves to issue excessive and unconstitutional fines against real property, including those related to allegedly failing to maintain the yards of apartment buildings, demolish the buildings thereon, and then purport to sell the property through an illegal tax lien scheme, all without notice to the property owner,” the lawsuit reads.
It also claims that Bruce was told that demolition of the buildings was due to fines that Miamisburg had issued regarding the maintenance of the yards on the properties, for example, mowing the lawn.
However, Bruce claims he did not receive proper notice that the yards had not been maintained and/or proper notice of the issuance of fines in connection with that lack of maintenance.
Bruce also alleges the city and county placed tax liens on the properties totaling approximately $53,000, the majority of which was demolition costs, then “purported to negotiate a tax lien sale to the highest bidder,” a company now in the process of foreclosing on the liens it acquired from the city and county, thereby stripping Bruce of his ownership of the properties.
“Defendants have acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner with respect to plaintiff’s rights in the property, including by issuing excessive and unconstitutional fines which plaintiff had no ability to challenge,” the lawsuit reads and goes on to say the properties have been transferred to Tax Ease Ohio “through an illegal tax lien scheme, all to the complete detriment of plaintiff.”
That, the lawsuit says, deprived Bruce of his property and constitutional due process rights.
He said he has been damaged in the form of lost rental profits as well as the value of buildings and property, and is owed at least $1 million.
Miamisburg has not yet had a chance to review the suit and does not comment on pending litigation, according to Gary Giles, the city’s spokesman.
Zach Zugelder, Montgomery County’s assistant treasurer, said after looking over county records that the county was not responsible for the property being torn down.
Greg Flannagan of the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said there were unpaid property taxes that were owed on Bruce’s properties in Miamisburg.
“The tax liens were sold to Tax Ease, who then foreclosed on the properties,” Flannagan said. “The county’s only involvement in this lawsuit is to protect the collection of the taxes the plaintiff owes.”
A man sentenced to five years of probation in the beating and robbery of a Dayton veteran last spring could be headed to prison for that crime because of new allega- tions of violence against him.
Shawn Deangelo Shank, 45, of Dayton faces 11 to 16½ years in prison if Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Steven Dankof revokes his five-year supervised proba- tion at his March 24 hearing.
However, Shank would not be sentenced on the old case until the new case — for which he was indicted on Wednesday — is resolved, said Greg Flannagan, Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman.
Shank and Heather Renee Byrd on May 18, 2020, were supposed to give the veteran a ride to the bank and VA Hospital in Dayton, “but instead taped his hands, feet and mouth and beat and robbed him then dumped him in an abandoned garage” in the 300 block of South Woodward Avenue, according to an affidavit filed in that case in Dayton Municipal Court.
Shank a nd Byrd both pleaded guilty to kidnapping in November 2020,and were each granted five years of supervised probation by Dankof, court records show.
Shank was i ndicted Wednesday in connection to crimes reported Feb. 28 against a 48-year-old man at the victim’s apartment in the 100 block of Ashwood Avenue in Dayton. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Dankof ’s courtroom for aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated burglary, each with violent offender and three-year firearm specifications;kidnapping, felonious assault; two counts of weapons under disability for prior convictions; and a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia offense.
Shank is held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, where he has been since his Feb. 28 arrest by Dayton police.
Navistar released its financial results for the first quarter of this financial year, reporting a net loss of $81 million during the three month period.
Representatives of the truck manufacturer said the loss for the period that ended on Jan. 31 included $86 million of tax-effected significant items. In comparison, the company reported a net loss of $33 million during the first quarter of 2020.
Navistar released its first quarter results this week. It saw revenues of $1.8 billion during that period, comparable to what was reported during the same quarter last year.
Navistar’s CEO Persio Lisboa said in a news release that the company started the year on a strong note.
Lisboa said that truck revenues returned to levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic and there was an increase in retail market share in each of Navistar’s vehicle segments.
The company also reported an adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization of $116 million, or 6.4% of revenue, up from the $59 million, or 3.2% of revenue, reported a year ago.
Navistar also finished the first quarter of 2021 with $1.3 billion in consolidated cash and cash equivalents, including $1.2 billion in manufacturing cash and cash equivalents, according to a news release that highlighted those financial results.
Navistar employs more than 1,000 people in Clark County and has a manufacturing facility in Springfield, which builds medium-duty trucks as well as cutaway vans for General Motors.
The company reported strong medium to heavy-duty truck orders during the first quarter, which caused the company to increase its production line-rates in its truck assembly plants.
Charge outs for the company’s medium and heavy duty trucks and buses in the United States and Canadian markets were 10,600 units in the first quarter of 2021.
Charge outs are defined as trucks and buses that have been invoiced to customers.
“We expect the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and easing of state restrictions will continue to support strong economic growth and the need for new trucks,” said Lisboa.
The quarter also saw several announcements being made by the company.
That included the announcement of a collaboration with General Motors and OneH2 to bring a hydrogen truck ecosystem solution to the trucking industry.
Navistar also announced that it acquired a second property in San Antonio that will house support functions for its under-construction 900,000-square-foot plant in the area.