Former bailiff could face weapons charges after raid
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published Jan. 25, 2006

A former Cleveland bailiff, whom friends and acquaintances praise as a good person, could be facing weapons charges after police found a wide range of guns and explosives when they raided his Mastick Road home Jan. 17.

When police came to arrest James Payne, 54, on a felony domestic abuse warrant, they sent the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team in with North Olmsted officers also present since they had received information he might have weapons.

When the SWAT team entered the home, they arrested Payne on the domestic abuse charge and got his permission to search his home. The items they found prompted law enforcement officials to call out the WEB (Westshore Enforcement Bureau) bomb squad and block off the area that afternoon.

Officers confiscated from the home a homemade Gatling repeating gun made of two Ruger rifles, a Russian AK 47 assault rifle, shotguns, hand guns, old fireworks, dynamite and grenades. Officers at the scene said Payne offered no resistance when arrested. Police officials are awaiting a report on the nature of the hand grenades and some of the other weapons to determine if local or federal weapons charges should be filed against Payne. Federal bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officers are now investigating along with the local officers.

Officers said the potentially explosive contents of the home came as somewhat of a surprise.

“He’s a blip on the radar for us,” said North Olmsted Police Sgt. Mike Kilbane, who was one of the officers at the home during the incident. “We’ve never had any major problems with him in the city.”

Capt. Kevin Whelan, operations officer for the North Olmsted police, said the department has little history with calls at the Mastick Road home. Whelan said the only call on record is an August 2004 call in which police were called because of an apparent disagreement between Payne and his son, with records showing the son was cited for disorderly conduct and released.

Inspector Robert Havranek of the sheriff’s department said his agency was serving the city of Cleveland warrant because it was out of that department’s jurisdiction.

“We had the information that there could be weapons, so the SWAT team went and the North Olmsted officers were there as well,” Havranek said. “He lost a daughter to suicide about a year ago, and we were told he was upset about that and wasn’t in the best shape emotionally. You never know what you might encounter out there. We have at least one or two a year where you go into a place and encounter something like this where people have a large amount of weapons or something somewhat unexpected like that.”

Havrenek said the allegations in the warrant were that Payne was harassing his ex-wife by driving by that business several times and making phone calls to her and other employees.

While deputies were reviewing the case, they found Payne had worked at times in the county justice center while serving as a bailiff.

“One of the other officers said you’ll recognize him when you see him, and then I saw his picture and realized he had worked around us,”  Havranek said.

Sheriff’s department officials said Payne had not caused any problems when he worked as a bailiff.

Kilbane and Havranek said the bomb squad was called in because of the fireworks and grenades.

“They’re not something you can take chances with,” Kilbane said. “You want to make sure they’re handled properly and that no one gets hurt in the process. Fortunately, this isn’t the type of thing we see too often in the city.”

Bomb squad members were able to remove all the explosives without any problems. The officers said the explosives are being examined to see how hazardous they still are.

In addition to the guns and explosives, there also were several books on explosives including a “Guide to Home and Recreational Use of High Explosives,” “Bazooka, How To Build Your Own,” and other similar books.

“It was an unusual library,” Kilbane said.

Even with the unusual items in his home, neighbors and an old friend said they didn’t know anything negative about Payne.

“I never knew of any problems with him and never had anybody come to me about anything with him,” said former 22-year Councilman Dean McKay, who lives a short distance away. “It was somewhat surprising seeing all that coming out of his home.”

Other neighbors had similar reactions.

Tony Greco, an area barber who grew up with Payne on the west side of Cleveland, said his old friend would never hurt anybody.

“He’s a good guy, the type you like being around,” Greco said. “He’d give you the shirt off his back. He cooks stuff and brings it over for me and calls me when he can.”

Greco said Payne has always been interested in fireworks and explosives.

“He always liked playing with them and seeing what they could do,” Greco said. “But he knows what he’s doing with them. He would shoot them off as a kid and later on he would be the guy shooting some off for the church parades, so he knows how to handle them.”

Greco speculated that the guns and grenades shouldn’t be considered out of the ordinary for his friend.

“He goes hunting and he’s always liked having guns around and he does know how to handle them,” Greco said. “And I’d say he probably got the grenades from his dad, who was an Army veteran. It’s the type of thing he would keep around.”

Greco acknowledged his friend has had some tough times.

“It’s been rough on him at times, and I know it hurt him bad to lose his daughter that way,” Greco said. “I know there were issues with the ex-wife, but I honestly don’t think he would hurt a fly.”