A woman was robbed at gunpoint while smoking a cigarette in the Rocky River Reservation on the afternoon of July 23, according to a Metroparks police report obtained by WKYC.
The following morning, a Metroparks seasonal worker—driven by his mother—fled in their car from the Rocky River Reservation intersection, after noticing a possible weapon in the hands of a passenger in a car that forced them to slow at the intersection, according to a separate police report.
The July 23 incident occurred at Morley’s Ford Picnic Area at around 2:30 p.m. The woman reported that two males approached her and that one put a gun to her right temple while the other male searched her for money. They forced her to open her car and then took $40 from her purse and fled into the woods, according to the police report. The victim’s friend first reported the incident tp tje Metroparks police. A Metroparks officer and an FBI special agent later interviewed the victim, who confirmed details of the initial report.
At around 5:30 a.m on July 24, a seasonal Metroparks worker and his mother were slowed by a vehicle at the intersection of Hogsback Lane and Valley Parkway. As the mother drove up to the car and prepared to offer help, she noticed what she reported later looked like a gun. She then drove off, according to the report.
This is the same reservation where two people—Carnell Sledge and Katherine Brown—were shot to death in early June. The Metroparks has no leads in the murder case. The FBI offered a $20,000 reward to anyone with information about the circumstances.
“At this stage of these investigations, there is no information to substantiate that these two incidents are related to June 4 homicides that tragically took the lives of two individuals,” Metroparks spokeswoman Jaqueline Gerling said in an email statement.
She also said that these robberies are extremely rare.
“Over the past five years, there have been three robberies Rocky River Reservation and approximately 30 million visitors traveling through or stopping for recreation in the reservation,” she said.
Channel 3 asked the Metroparks if it has changed how it patrols the reservations since the incidents. She declined to offer details.
“To maximize the impact of our law enforcement strategy, we can’t comment specifically on our police patrol tactics,” she said.