By Dan Jovic | dan.jovic@fox8.com

Prosecutors said 20-year-old Tiffani Calise, of Uniontown, was indicted for murder, involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangering for the death of 23-month-old Aliyah Ali.

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio – A Uniontown woman has been indicted on a murder charge for causing the death of a 23-month-old girl she was babysitting.

According to Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, a Summit County Grand Jury indicted Tiffani Calise, 20, of Uniontown, on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of child endangering for allegedly causing the death of 23-month-old Aaliyah Ali, of Akron, on August 9, 2010.

On August 10, Aaliyah was admitted to Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron. Despite medical treatment, she was pronounced dead at 1:57 a.m. on August 12.

On the night of August 9, 2010 at 11:40 p.m., Calise called 9-1-1 reporting that the toddler had fallen in the bathtub. Early Tuesday morning, she called paramedics claiming the baby was no longer breathing.

“The babysitter claimed she went to get something out of the closet and left the victim in the bathtub. She heard some noises when she came back the child was limp, she then called 911,” said Summit County Sheriff Deputy William Holland.

Deputies say after the baby was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital they learned the toddler’s injuries were inconsistent with the babysitter’s story.

According to deputies, the child had bleeding on her skull and head injuries. Investigators will not say how the injuries were sustained.

Calise will be arraigned on Wednesday, September 8.

By Ann Kagarise

Every day, individuals get behind the wheel intoxicated. Every day, people are killed by a drunk driver. The Ohio Traffic Safety Office requires Summit and Stark OVI (Operating a Vehicle Intoxicated) Task Force to administer 12 sobriety checkpoints throughout the calendar year beginning Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Local checkpoints are administered through Summit County Sheriff, directed by Sergeant Mike Sanchez.

“We do this because the two biggest contributors to accidents this year would be alcohol use and aggressive driving,” Sanchez explained. “We decide where to set up a checkpoints based on the statistics of alcohol related crashes and arrests. Anywhere we can pinpoint where there seems to be an alcohol problem.”

An OVI Checkpoint was conducted in Springfield Township, on 224, close to the police department. Several individuals were escorted into the diversion area.

“They check if a person has a driver’s license on their possession,” Summit County Deputy Wes Dobbins, explained. “They verify who they are and then they are released. If a person does not have a license or they detect alcohol, they pull them into what we call a diversion area where we process them.”

Checkpoints are conducted twice a month during the summer.

“Last month, in Akron, we had 800 cars go through and they found 16 driving under-suspension, one OVI, and five warrants.”

Twelve were diverted in one hour in Springfield Township. Drivers are warned in advance that a checkpoint is ahead. There are media releases within 24 hours and signs are posted as a checkpoint approaches.

“We give them full warning,” Dobbins stated. “If a person

turns around during a checkpoint, we have chase cars on each end. When we see turns around during a checkpoint, we have chase cars on each end. When we see someone do a U turn, they go after them, pull them over, and check them out.”

There are three stages to the checkpoint. “As traffic goes through the initial checkpoint, everybody stops,” explained Summit County Sergeant Todd Belcher from State Highway Patrol. “Every vehicle is checked. We have about five officers on the roadway. We refer to this as ‘the line.’”

If the vehicle is diverted, they are questioned further. “They ask them a few more questions to see if they still detect the odor or any other signs of impairment. They would probably do standardized sobriety field testing which included checking of the eyes, and the one legged stand test. If there is probable cause to make an OVI arrest, the officer arrests them and places them in the OVI trailer. Then they are submitted to a breath test.”

Type of offense determines what happens next.“If a person tests over the national legal limit of .08,” Deputy Dobbins explained, “they get a 90-day license suspension. If they refuse to take the test, they get a one-year license suspension. After they are processed, they are served a summons,  given a court date, and then they get a sober driver to pick them up and we tow their vehicle.”

The jails are full. “Because of that, we only take felonies or misdemeanor crimes of violence,” Sergeant Belcher added. “We impound their car only if it is a second offense in six years.”
Taxi service is up, the night of a checkpoint. “One weekend, we did a checkpoint on Portage Lakes Drive in Coventry Township at the Division of Wildlife. The Yellow Cab Company had 46 calls for service in the Lakes that night picking people up at different bars. They said that was about three times the amount that they normally have,” Sergeant Sanchez reported.

A safety plan should always be part of a night out. “We are not telling people not to drink,” Lieutenant Joe Davis, from the Richfield Police Department stated. “We just ask that they exercise good judgment and not get behind the wheel of a car if they choose to drink. If they comply with that, we will save countless lives. If they did this every night, it would be wonderful; unfortunately, we are in the top 10 counties in the state for alcohol related incidents of a motor vehicle because people do not understand good judgment. This is a very unfortunate stat.”
Officers hope checkpoints help to change bad habits. “Hopefully through these efforts, we are able to get people to exercise good judgment and alter their behaviors when they choose to drink. I hope there will be no need for us and we will reduce the number of injuries and fatalities,” Lt. Davis stated.

In the quarter of April, May, and June of 2009,” Sgt. Sanchez reported, “we had 137 alcohol related crashes in the country. In this past quarter in 2010, it was down to 110. Fatalities remain at seven for both years. Our goal is to reduce the total number of traffic related fatal crashes by 10% from the year before. In 2009, there were 31 traffic related fatal crashes in the county.”

Stark County, according to Lynn Wiseman, Dispatch Secretary at the Uniontown Police Department, reports that 375 people have died in the last 10 years (January of 2000-June 2010) from any type of car crash, not just alcohol related. One-hundred- fifty-seven of those were from alcohol.  An Empty Plate Dinner was held on August 19 at Jackson Executive Catering for those who have passed away in car crashes. Stark County Safe Communities will be displaying the memorial wall throughout the county.

Uniontown’s 9×9 square mile area, in Stark County, borders Springfield, Green, and Portage County. “We do not do checkpoints,” Chief Jack Coontz, stated. “We do not have the manpower.”

OVI arrests are high for Uniontown, however. “In 2009 we had 27 OVI arrests,” Wiseman stated, “and so far in 2010, we have had 13.”

“For a nine square mile, dry community, that is quite a few,” Chief Coontz added. “There are several bars in Springfield Township. We have several bars connecting our jurisdiction. We have Green in our area. They have quite a few bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. We are right on the northwest corner of both of them. We are dry, but you don’t have to drive more than 5 miles to get to a bar or an establishment that serves alcohol.”

The checkpoint in Springfield had several officers on the scene. “The Ohio Department of Transportation sets this up,” Deputy Dobbins stated. “We probably have about 25 total.”
Positive statements were made to officers on the line. “I had one gentleman say he stopped drinking 11 years ago after an OVI and he thinks this is the best thing he has ever seen. I had another gentleman who works at City Hospital and works in the trauma area say he was also very pleased to see us,” Lt. Davis stated.

Born in Fairlawn, Allan worked as a diesel mechanic and was an area resident most of his life. He attended Uniontown Chapel of Faith and was a member of the Uniontown Lions. Allan also served as an attendent for Mace Park for many years, helping anyone in need.

Preceded in death by his parents, Orrin and Inez; wives, Sarah Jane and Lorraine; brothers, Ira, Orrin, Ralph; and nephew, Gary Spigelmire; he is survived by his wife, Mary; brothers, James (Sally), Michael (Betty); stepchildren, James (Deborah), Charles (Kim), and Billy Joe Harrison, Lorraina (Carlos) Eldridge, Nancy (James) Collins, Deborah P. Harrison, Dorothy (James) Grubbs, John and Skip Gary; sister-in-law, Mary Spigelmire; special niece, Joyce Meadows; and many other dear relatives and friends.

Visitation Friday, 4 to 7 p.m. at the Hecker Funeral Home in Uniontown, where funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m., with Pastor Jack Coontz officiating. Burial at Woods Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Uniontown Lions Club. (Hecker, 330 699-2600)

“We have many churches; [we are] building new churches in our community. And for a handful of people to say that they don’t like that, you know, this is America,” he contends.

Coontz recommends that the few atheist parents there could home school their children, just as many Christian parents do as a way to keep their children out of a public school environment. He believes the Board of Education ought to stand its ground. “We are children of God. We’re not a floor mat for anyone to wipe their feet on us. We are Christians and we’re God’s people,” the pastor notes.

The pastor adds that the answer to the problem in Lake Township and elsewhere throughout the country is “Christians staying on their knees and taking care of this here with God. God’s hearing prayer,” he affirms, “and he still answers prayers.”

A permanent decision on omitting the reference to God has not been made.

The Uniontown Chapel pastor has served on the police force for 29 years in addition to his pastoral duties. He is currently chief of police.

Coontz, a 26-year veteran of the department, had been in charge of the department following the retirement of former chief Don Hensley last month.

Trustees announced Coontz’s selection as chief after a 32-minute executive session. The appointment is effective Jan. 24. Coontz’s salary is $61,000 per year.

In other business, trustees also:
• Approved permanent appropriations of 2009 of $11.4 million for the total of all funds.

• Authorized paying bills including $66,000 for road salt purchased from Cargill Salt through the Stark County Cooperative Purchasing Program.

• Agreed to buy three bulletproof vests for part-time officers of the Uniontown Police Department from D&G Uniforms of Akron for $1,590.

• Accepted the resignation of Russell Diehl, an auxiliary police officer with Uniontown Police Department.

• Reappointed Bob Capelli to the township zoning commission for a five-year term through Jan. 29, 2014.

• Agreed to send a letter to the Stark County commissioners to express their support for the proposed improvement of Market Avenue and Lake Center Street.

• Approved the use of a $2,400 recycling grant from the Manning Group.

The trustees approved the purchase of three bulletproof vests for the police department at a cost not to exceed $1,590. They also accepted the resignation of police Officer Russell Diehl and reappointed