CLEVELAND — The case of an Orange Village man accused of spraying antisemitic graffiti on at least one home in the community is now in the hands of a grand jury.
Ryan Kellogg, 37, was arrested Monday on multiple charges of vandalism and menacing by stalking. He is currently free from custody after posting 10% of a $53,500 bond, and on Tuesday his case was bound over from Bedford Municipal Court to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
A little more than a week ago, Orange police received reports of multiple houses being vandalized with spray paint in a neighborhood in the northern part of the village, one of which was "marked with a symbol of Jewish hate." This past Sunday night, an officer claimed they saw Kellogg trying to spray the same house again, and following a chase, authorities from no less than eight law enforcement agencies captured Kellogg at his own residence.
Through a statement Friday from his attorney Michael J. Goldberg, Kellogg denied the charges against him, with Goldberg writing, "The evidence will show that the hateful symbol did not come from Mr. Kellogg." Goldberg also chastised Orange Mayor Judson Kline and others for, in his words, "jumping to legal conclusions without a full and complete investigation," and called for Kline to apologize after Kellogg is "exonerated" from what Goldberg is calling "harmful and unfounded" allegations.
"Mr. Kellogg, a father of four young children and an Orange resident for nine years, has been a law-abiding and contributing member of the community his entire adult life," Goldberg added. "However, due to the rush to judgment against Mr. Kellogg, based soley (sic) on evidence of a subsequent incident, Mr. Kellogg and his family have been summarily and unfairly vilified."
When reached for comment by 3News media partner Cleveland.com on Thursday, Kline said he "absolutely" stands by the police department's arrest of Kellogg, and asserted that "people in the community have been feeling much more secure" over the last few days.
Prosecutors have not given a timeline for when a grand jury will hear Kellogg's case and potentially issue an indictment.
