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Boy Terrorizes Neighborhood With Pit Bull

15-Year-Old Also Linked To Dozens Of Break-Ins

Break-ins, vandalism, threats -- neighbors say that he has created a state of fear; investigators say that he's a one-man wrecking crew.

neighborhood terror Video An Amherst teen faces charges after terrorizing his neighborhood. But he is no man -- a 15-year-old is facing charges after neighbors accused him of shattering the serenity of their Lorain County neighborhood.

As NewsChannel5's Paul Kiska reports, neighbors are fighting back, and they're not done yet.

What's been happening in the usually quiet, picket fence-filled Hidden Valley neighborhood in Amherst Township is no secret to people who live there, people who took a stand to stop it.

Rachelle Ostrolencki (pictured, below) and other neighbors wrote a letter to the Lorain County prosecutor's office saying that a 15-year-old neighbor and his pit bull were terrorizing their neighborhood.

"Our concern was for (the) safety of our children," Ostrolencki said. "We were afraid (that) we would be attacked (and) our dogs would be attacked."

When the Lorain County dog warden took the dog and sheriff's deputies arrested the teen, investigators said that his mother, Elizabeth Cruzado, interfered with the arrest. She was also arrested, but was later released on bond. Her son is still in a detention center, WEWS reports.

"There was a lot of screaming of obscenities," Ostrolencki said.

Besides barraging neighbors with vulgar language, threats, a mean dog and vandalism, investigators said that they have now linked the 15-year-old to dozens of break-ins to homes and cars throughout the neighborhood and Lorain County.

Rachelle Ostrolencki "It ended up (that) people (were) calling us all the time," Jim Drozdowski of the Lorain County Sheriff's Department said. "Elderly people couldn't sleep, afraid of what was going to happen."

Ostrolencki said that the neighborhood was not going to accept the boy's threatening behavior without a fight.

"Neighbors have been worried, (so we) unified," she said.

The teen goes to trial in June, WEWS reports.

His mother has a pre-trial hearing May 22. She did not come to the door Monday when NewsChannel5 knocked.

Neighbors can voice their concerns at a town hall meeting in Amherst Township Monday night.

Investigators said that before the teen was arrested, they took 60 calls from the neighborhood for a variety of complaints. Since the arrest, there has not been one complaint.





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