Toledo police investigate Sandusky man's claim over shooting

1/18/2011

Police Tuesday were investigating the claim of a Sandusky man who was shot in the leg the night before in central Toledo, telling police the shooting happened while he was trying to buy a video game system he saw online.

Robert Graves III, 25, was treated at the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital, and arrested after his release from the hospital on an outstanding felonious assault warrant issued in 2008 by Toledo Municipal Court. At his arraignment in court Tuesday, he was ordered held in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing on Monday.

Capt. Ray Carroll, supervisor of investigative services, said it was unclear Tuesday what the victim was doing at the time he was shot, and that police questioned the validity of Mr. Graves' claim that he was going to buy a video game that he had found on the Craigslist Web site.

Police responding to a report of a person shot arrived about 8:40 p.m. Monday at the 300 block of South Detroit Avenue in South Toledo and found the victim sitting in a car, suffering from a gunshot wound to the left leg, police wrote in their report.

The victim told police he had driven to a home in the 900 block of Buckingham Street in central Toledo to buy the video game system when a man came up to the car, pulled a handgun, demanded money, and then shot him as he tried to run away. The victim then returned to the car and started to drive away when the gunman opened fire again, striking the rear of the car, according to the police report.

The gunman was described as a black man in his 20s, about 6 feet, 2 inches high, with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black leather coat with colorful stitching and black sweatpants. The handgun was a chrome revolver, according to the report.

The prior arrest warrant for the victim was issued after Mr. Graves was accused of punching his wife several times and fleeing in June, 2008. His wife, who was five months pregnant, was admitted to Toledo Hospital and treated for swelling to her face, according to court records. Mr. Graves was a Toledo resident at the time.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com or 419-724-6089.