Police finally found the person they believe is responsible for egging an elderly Cleveland man’s home more than 100 times after a year-long investigation that included undercover stakeouts, neighborhood canvassing, surveillance cameras and forensic tests.
Cops arrested Jason E. Kozan, 30, for vandalizing his neighbor’s house with eggs several times a week between May 20, 2014 and June 26, 2015, about the time Zoran moved out of the neighborhood, Cleveland.com reports.
The neighbor, 85-year-old Albert Clemens, Sr., did not provide a comment about Kozan’s arrest, but spoke to Cleveland.com last March about the attacks he said ruined his home and make his family nervous.
“The accuracy is phenomenal,” Clemens said. “Because almost every time when it’s nice weather and they launch five or six of these at a time, they almost invariably hit the front door.”
The eggs have also hit his windows, siding, shutters, screens, porch and storm windows. At first, Clemens and his two grown kids who live with him tried to clean up the mess, but it occurred so often they gave up, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.
He said the attacks occurred after dark, and went on for as long as 10 minutes. The residue destroyed the front of his home by stripping off the paint and leaving a nasty residue behind.
According to Cleveland.com, the Euclid police department’s “entire community policing unit was dedicated to tracking down the eggers at one point” and “officers responded quickly to every egging call at the home – which is less than a mile from the police station.”
Crime lab tests of the eggshell samples showed they came from a local Amish farm, but provided no help in identifying the culprit. Police suspected the egger either had access to a lot of eggs, or took spoiled eggs from businesses that toss them after expiration, and visited local restaurants without success.
“Somebody is deeply, deeply angry at somebody in that household for some reason,” Euclid Lt. Mitch Houser told Cleveland.com last March.
“The man hours put into that investigation were huge and one of the reasons it’s so frustrating that we don’t have somebody right now that we can criminally charge,” he said.
News reports do not detail exactly how police tracked down Kozan as the alleged culprit, but Euclid Lt. Mike Knack said officers searched Kozan’s former home, found incriminating evidence, and forwarded the case to the prosecutor, who authorized a felony vandalism charge.
The case is expected to be reviewed by a grand jury. Meanwhile, a judge set Korzan’s bond at $2,000.
“Neubert Painting Inc. of Brook Park, Ohio has already volunteered to repaint the home for free early this summer,” Cleveland.com commenter Nn123 posted.
“Why would he want to torment the little old man who lived there?” Tpohorence posted.
“Place him in a stockade in front of city hall,” blink_winkleman added. “Whatever happens, happens.”
“There needs to be a background check for buying eggs,” CaptainFranks wrote. This will surely stop any future eggings. Executive order immediately.”
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.