A scuffle recently broke out between John Petric, also known as Johnny Go, the owner of Johnny Go’s House O’ Music and an OSU student.
Luke Stephens, a freshman in theater, said he was attacked on Monday by Petric after he accused Stephens of shoplifting and asked him to leave his store, located at 1900 High St.
“I asked him to leave. He wouldn’t, a scuffle broke out and the cops came – end of story,” Petric said.
According to Petric, Stephens was a big problem for about 10 to 15 minutes while in his store. “I suspected him of shoplifting, and I had to ask him to take a CD out from underneath his shirt and a CD out of his mouth,” he said.
“The cops are called constantly, and this is no big deal,” Petric said.
Stephens claims he was shopping and asked Petric a few questions about some merchandise. According to Stephens, Petric said “I don’t like you, and I know you are up to something, so leave the store now.” Stephens said he then gave Petric his book bag to search for stolen merchandise.
“After I gave him my backpack to search, I broke down crying, because of Go screaming at me and all the stress I have been under,” Stephens said.
Stephens said he would not leave the store, because Petric would not tell him why he had to leave.
“Why would I steal from a store I go to often, and why would you steal a CD case when the CD is not even in it?” he said.
After Petric called the police for a robbery in progress and threw Stephens’ backpack on the street, Stephens said Petric started wrestling him in the store. There was no one in the store when this occurred, but the video camera was still running.
“At this point, I did not want to leave since the cops were coming. I wanted them to arrest Go for hitting me in the face twice and once in the ear,” Stephens said. “I purposely did not hit Go back, because I knew the cops would take care of it,” he said.
The police report covered Petric’s side of the story, saying that Petric noticed Stephens trying to hide a CD underneath his sweater. According to Petric, Stephens threw down his backpack and tore off his own jacket when Petric asked him to drop the CD and leave the store. Petric admitted he wrestled Stephens throughout the store for a few minutes.
When the Columbus Division of Police arrived at 3:40 p.m., Stephens was cited for criminal trespassing.
Stephens said the police pointed a gun at him and threw him against the wall of the store. He claims he was not read his rights, nor did the police interview witnesses. According to Stephens, the police said, “We don’t have time for witnesses.”
Columbus police officer Robert Dent said he takes a couple reports daily like this, and nothing was unusual or out of the ordinary.
According to Dent, shoplifting up and down High Street occurs all of the time. This has been Dent’s second visit to Johnny Go’s House O’ Music since he began patrolling the off-campus area three years ago.
“The reason why Stephens is being cited for criminal trespassing is because he left the merchandise in the store, and he would simply not leave the store,” said Dent.
“This was a very pathetic display of proper police conduct,” Stephens said. “Now I have to get a lawyer to clear my name and keep my record clean… then I plan to press charges against the owner of Johnny Go’s for attacking me.”
A witness was identified but was unable to be reached for comment. Stephens will appear at court on Monday for misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing.
