Eatery operating at loss before fire, employee testifies

WAUSEON - There's no question the 2007 fire that wiped out nearly a block of businesses in downtown Wauseon resulted in huge financial losses.

The question is whether Charles Bryan, Jr., who co-owned Doc Holliday's restaurant where the blaze began, started that fire.

Mr. Bryan, 40, of Wauseon is on trial this week in Fulton County Common Pleas Court on three counts of aggravated arson, nine counts of arson, and two counts of insurance fraud - charges that stem both from the fire April 14, 2007, that destroyed his business and a small fire in the utility room of the restaurant on Jan. 9, 2007.

Visiting Judge Charles Wittenberg, a retired Lucas County Common Pleas judge, was appointed to hear the case rather than a jury at Mr. Bryan's request.

During testimony Wednesday, Michael Fischer, an accountant who took care of payroll, financial statements, and tax returns for Doc Holliday's, said financial records showed that business was down at the restaurant before the fire and that the 2006 corporate tax return for Doc Holliday's showed a loss rather than a profit.

On cross-examination, Mr. Fischer said business was down for many of his clients at that time because of the economy. Like others who did work for Mr. Bryan, Mr. Fischer said he was always paid for his services.

One vendor who said Mr. Bryan was delinquent on his bill - a route salesman for Nickles Bakery - said he talked with Mr. Bryan a few days before the fire to collect on a bill that was several weeks overdue.

Curtis Philpot told the court Mr. Bryan promptly wrote a check for the bill but didn't explain why he had not paid sooner.

"He just told me, 'I don't know if we're going to need your services anymore. I'll call you and let you know,' " Mr. Philpot said.

On questioning from Paul Kennedy, an assistant Fulton County prosecutor, he said he didn't think anything of Mr. Bryan's comment until he heard about the fire a few days later.

Elizabeth Finney, who cleaned both Mr. Bryan's home and the restaurant and worked part time as a server and bartender at Doc Holliday's, said she cried as she watched the business burn.

She testified Mr. Bryan told her he was at home asleep with his wife when he got a phone call telling him the restaurant was on fire.

When news reports later revealed that the fire had been ruled an arson, she said she recalled Mr. Bryan telling her he "couldn't believe that was what they found."

While the arson ruling was made a few weeks after the fire, Mr. Bryan was not indicted on the charges for more than two years - in August, 2009.

Defense attorney Jerry Phillips tried to show Mr. Bryan had not done anything out of the ordinary before the blaze and was even talking with a banker about buying out his partner's 50 percent share of the restaurant. He also raised the possibility that others may have had a motive to hurt the business.

Under cross-examination by Mr. Phillips, Ms. Finney confirmed there was a cook who worked at Doc Holliday's who had been fired a few weeks before the blaze.

Several business owners and a trustee for a nearby church also testified Wednesday about the damage from the fire, most of which was covered by insurance, they told the court.

An investigator with the state fire marshal's office is expected to take the stand when the trial reconvenes at 8:30 a.m. today.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:

jfeehan@theblade.com

or 419-724-6129.

41.55019 -84.13435

Former Wauseon restaurant owner Charles Bryan, Jr., during his arraignment last year, was co-owner of Doc Holliday's restaurant at the time of the April 14, 2007, blaze that destroyed his business and others in the central business district. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

There's no question the 2007 fire that wiped out nearly a block of businesses in downtown Wauseon resulted in huge financial losses.