Recordpub.com - Two charged in beheading of Garfield statue: Suspects not Hiram College students

By Dave O’Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

Two Hiram Township men have been indicted on charges they decapitated a statue of President James A. Garfield on the Hiram College campus last spring.

Scott A. Plesotis Jr. of 12823 Washburn Road, and Joseph E. Regets, of 12336 Alpha Road, were indicted Jan. 20 by a Portage County grand jury on a charge of fifth-degree felony vandalism.

The two men accused in the May 15, 2009 vandalism are not Hiram College students, college spokesman Shawn Brown said.

Both were booked at the Portage County jail Tuesday, and released on personal recognizance bonds pending their Feb. 8 arraignments in Portage County Common Pleas Court in Ravenna — Regets at 11 a.m. in Judge Laurie Pittman’s courtroom and Plesotis at 2 p.m. in Judge John Enlow’s courtroom.

The circa-1914 sandstone statue of Garfield, a Hiram College student from 1851-53 — when it was known as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute — and later president and professor at the school, was beheaded sometime on the night of May 14 or the morning of May 15, 2009, only hours after a dedication for the college’s Garfield Institute for Public Leadership.

A “good Samaritan” — who was not a suspect in the theft — returned the head to the college two months later. Ron Fedor Masonry in Mantua Township and Eagle Creek Designs in Hiram managed to reattach the head to the statue, and it was rededicated Nov. 10 in a “re-capitation” ceremony.

Brown said the good Samaritan turned down a $1,000 reward for the safe return of Garfield’s head.

The statue is valued at $25,000, according to the college. It was found in 2008 on a Muskingum County farm by college trustee Paul Martin, donated to the college and installed on the campus at the corner of S.R. 82, S.R. 305 and S.R. 700 in Hiram. Garfield left Hiram College in 1861 to serve in the U.S. Civil War. Later elected U.S. president, he was assassinated in 1880 after only six months in office.

12.	Posted by THECLIENT February 2, 2010
	Evidently it was an accident. Big difference between driving off the road and hitting something, or drinking a bunch of Busch Beer and deciding to deface somethiing like a American President. Its a good thing Mt Rushmore isnt in Nelson EH! The uninsured motorist paid his dues with court fees for driving without insurance, suspensions added, cops keep stopping him and adding to it some more, never ending for a suspended driver. There is no comparison to the crimes. They were idiots with no respect for others property. Let them go to Gettysburg or Washington and commit the same crime and see what happens. However I dont think Washinton is a big Busch seller now.. HA HA HA HA Crack myself up..

7.	Posted by THECLIENT January 29, 2010
	Typical Portage County. The ignorant keep breading and take presidents heads. What morons. No respect, no brains, no compassion, no upstanding parents probably, pure white trash. They probably ran out of Busch beer and were on a beer run when the idea came across. Make them wash the bird doo off the ole president for about 4 years. No alcohol for 5 years, and no spawning ever. Portage Counties finest A Holes. Hats off to the man that brought the head back. You are a grown man and a credit to our society, whats left. Lets stone these two for about a hour...

6.	Posted by shagbark January 29, 2010
	Grand theft is a felony. Ohio law states "If the value of the property or services stolen is five hundred dollars or more and is less than five thousand dollars or if the property stolen is any of the property listed in section 2913.71 of the Revised Code, a violation of this section is theft, a felony of the fifth degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is five thousand dollars or more and is less than one hundred thousand dollars, a violation of this section is grand theft, a felony of the fourth degree." You break the law, you pay the price.

3.	Posted by harvey10 January 28, 2010
	All right a drunk kills a girl and gets 10 days in jail, this moron from Ravenna, Moser, gets off repeatedly with slaps on the wrist then ends up killing somebody. These guys were probably drinking some beer, decided let's steal Garfield's head and they are now charged with a felony to carry the rest of their lives. You know why doesn't are county law enforcement go to the allotments in Ravenna, Silver Meadows in Kent and actually arrest some crack dealers who are wrecking our society, stealing futures and creating a crime wave. Hell how about a few deadbeat dads for good measures. Yeah this yahoos broke the law but does the charge really fit the crime?