LAKEWOOD RECOVERS FROM FEAR-FILLED NIGHTS OF 1995
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - July 9, 2000
Author: CHRIS SEPER PLAIN DEALER REPORTER

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Five years ago today, a musician named Vincent Drost walked away from a pay phone and was killed by five teenagers for fun and $1.

That phone disappeared from the intersection of Hopkins and Madison avenues years ago. So, too, has most of the fear Lakewood residents carried with them after the slaying.

Many saw Drost's death as the beginning of the end of their Lakewood: a tranquil suburb without the big-city problems of next-door neighbor Cleveland. The murder shattered that image for so many people that then-mayoral candidate Madeline A. Cain talked about the need to heal in her 1996 campaign.

Today, city officials, residents and police who worked the case - along with crime statistics - say Lakewood has gotten anything but worse. Crime is down, the city does more to fight youth crime, and Drost's murder never sparked the exodus of residents that some feared: While some people moved out, others moved in, and the city's population has remained stable.

Even Drost's former girlfriend, Sonia Hoffman, lives in the neighborhood. Attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.

"When I took office, I felt I had a mission to restore confidence in the community," Cain said.

"I don't like dredging it all up again, but as I reflect back on the last five years, I think that we have come a long way."

Drost's slaying was unique because of its randomness and the numbing motive. Five youths - one 18, three 17 and another 16 - came across the pianist, poet and composer after he finished his nightly phone call to Hoffman in Montana. They beat and stabbed him and took his only dollar.

The five were caught within hours. According to the police, the youths said they killed Drost because they wanted to have some fun. Three were later sentenced to 99 years in prison. The two others were acquitted in Juvenile Court.

Immediately after the killing, flowers and messages were left around the pay phone, and a tree was planted there to memorialize Drost. An artist chained himself to the pay phone to protest violence and hatred.

It remains such a sensitive topic that Police Chief Dan Clark refused to talk about it.

Hopkins Ave. resident John Blyler said that ever since the Drost killing, he has been on a "knife's edge" when coming home at night from a nearby RTA station. "If a guy walks with his head down, the punks will know right away there's a sucker," Blyler said.

"People were shocked; they were terrified," said Tom Puliafico of T.D. & Sons Barber Shop and Salon, which has been near the corner of Hopkins and Madison for 21 years. "People wouldn't go outside. But you can't give in to that kind of thing. The neighborhood didn't. It survived."

More people took the view of Michelle Martan, a lifelong Lakewood resident who bought Madison Ave.'s Shamrock Tavern soon after the Drost killing. Martan said she fears city building inspectors more than violent crimes.

"Doesn't everyone say this couldn't happen in their city?" Martan said. "I love this city. My whole family lives here."

At the time, some said the murder fed the idea that Cleveland youths were terrorizing the city and proved that crime was growing. In reality, all but one of the youths lived in Lakewood.

And instead of violent crime going up, it has been dropping like most other offenses in Lakewood and remains relatively rare, according to the city's 1999 crime report. Rapes rarely break into double-digits in a year, and violent assaults since 1995 have never been above 25 annually.

Of the four other murders in Lakewood since 1995, all but one victim knew the attacker, unlike in the Drost killing. The 1997 shooting of Faud Alabsi remains unsolved.

Alan Clark, a retired Lakewood police captain who handled the Drost case, said his death wasn't the worst thing he saw in his 33 years on the force. But the randomness of the violence in the Drost case made it shocking to the city's residents, Clark said.

Drost's death sparked change. Cain said the tragedy spurred her to put police in schools and add programs that reach potential troublemakers before they become serious criminals.

"I believe bad things can happen in any community, regardless of what you do," Cain said. "But now we are better prepared for that kind of thing."

Newcomers still appreciate the tranquillity many longtime residents feared was lost five years ago.

Kathy Reder moved from Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood to Hopkins Ave. two years ago. No, she said, the landlord didn't mention that the "phone booth killing," as she called it, happened right at the corner. But knowing that wouldn't have stopped her from coming, Reder said.

"This is a peaceful neighborhood," she said, sitting on her porch within view of the murder scene. "I feel safe here."
 
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