OHIO COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS OF CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT Thieves break into Cleveland city council president's campaign headquarters | wkyc.comThieves break into Cleveland city council president's campaign headquarters
Reported by Katherine Boyd
POSTED: Friday, May 20, 2005 10:58:31 PM
UPDATED: Saturday, May 21, 2005 1:03:08 PM
CLEVELAND -- Thieves break into a local politician’s campaign headquarters and make off with several computers.

Is it just a random robbery or something much more sinister?

In April, Cleveland City Council President Frank Jackson officially kicked-off his campaign to try and replace current Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell.

Within weeks, Jackson opened his campaign headquarters in a building along Carnegie Ave. near E. 30th.


But, on the morning of May 12th, workers arrived to find the office ransacked.


“I walked in the door … turned the corner and realized I had no glass in my office door here,” said Alan Melamed.


It was explained that a computer was stolen as well as two laptops.


And according to the police report, the thieves made off with more than just computers - they also made off with “confidential campaign contributor files.”


But, when we asked Melamed about those files, he said it turns out they weren’t stolen after-all.

“We had some concern about some files,” he said. “The files were thrown all over the place. And by the time we went through everything, we were able to identify everything.”


Still, the police report raises other questions - like why did the thieves steal computers that were difficult to get to - locked behind closed doors while “one room that had been unlocked … and containing four desk top computers and monitors ... was left untouched.”


Despite all the lingering questions, Melamed insists this is no “Clevelandgate.”


“I wish I could tell you it was a big exciting Watergate, but there was no G. Gordon Liddy,” he said. “It was a common break-in.”


So what does Frank Jackson think about the break-in? Well, we were told he was at a private function tonight and not available for comment.


Police are still investigating how the thieves got in, but there was no sign of forced entry.

There is a pad-lock on the front door and according to police that pad-lock was found inside the office, lying by a broken door.

There are more questions than answers.


Beside the computers, the thieves also took 36 rolls of toilet paper, some ink cartridges, a couple of shredders - basically anything that wasn’t nailed down.


So who knows, it could have been just a robbery, but then again, maybe it wasn’t.