Weekly Roundup | Mental health tragedy, imposter scams

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup, where we bring you the top stories from today’s Dayton Daily News and major stories from the past week you may have missed.

This week, that includes a mother’s questions after a mental health call left her 21-year-old son dead; and a 80-year-old Kettering woman sharing the story of how she was defrauded in the hopes of helping others avoid a similar situation.

Also I’m continuing to plug our Dayton Daily News Community Gems initiative, highlighting people who give their time and effort to improve the lives of their neighbors and community. Do you know someone like this in your community? Follow this link to nominate them.

Do you have a news tip or an issue you think our reporters should look into? Contact me at Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com, or you can use our anonymous tipline.

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Mental health call leaves 21-year-old dead

Christina Schindler wears a locket of her 21-year-old son, Jayden Stephenson, who had mental health issues. Stephenson was shot by Miami Twp. police Feb. 19 after they responded to a call for him wielding a knife. ERIC SCHWARTZBERG/STAFF

Of eight officer-involved shootings since the beginning of 2024 in the Dayton region, two started as a mental health call. Today we break down what happened in one incident in Miami Twp. in February and whether anything could have been done differently.

• What happened: On Feb. 19, Jayden Stephenson’s mother called police. “He’s got a mental illness,” she said in a 911 call. “There is something going on with him.” Miami Twp. police arrived to her home to find him sitting on a barstool holding a boxcutter.

• Watch the video: Video of the incident shows police attempting to use restraint, opting several times for less-than-lethal measures. But attempts to disarm him proved unsuccessful and led to him being shot to death in an upstairs bedroom when he came at officers while still holding the boxcutter. You can watch the video in the story.

• Mom says: Reporter Eric Schwartzberg interviewed Stephenson’s mother, Christina Schindler, who believes her son might still be alive if police had spent more time focused on negotiating and de-escalating and less time on trying to disarm him.

- “Everybody just loved him,” said Schindler, wearing a heart locket with a photo of her son inside. “He just had this light about him that people just loved.”

• Law enforcement expert: “If the person is not compliant, (and) they continue to possess a weapon, and then they turn and lunge and go after somebody, another person, a police officer ... sometimes, unfortunately, then the lethal force is not only permitted, but in some cases, actually required in order to prevent somebody from being killed,” said Steven Meacham, a Cedarville University associate professor of criminal justice.

• Mental health expert: Someone working to get help for a loved one with mental health issues typically should start with calling the 988 Lifeline for help and not 911, according to Luke Russell, executive director for NAMI Ohio, the state chapter of the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization.

• Other case: On Oct. 19, 26-year-old Taylor Cotton was shot and killed by Dayton police after pointing a shotgun at officers during a mental health call. After 25 minutes of de-escalation attempts, officers fired when Cotton raised the weapon, which was later discovered to be unloaded.

‘Oh, mom. This is a scam’

A Dayton area woman lost over $50,000 to scammers and is telling her story to warn others. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF

Credit: Bryant Billing

Area residents are increasingly reporting being targeted by scams. Authorities say it’s extremely important to know what to look out for to prevent becoming a victim. Today, we tell one woman’s story in the hopes of helping others.

• First, the numbers: A recent Dayton Daily News analysis found consumer fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission from the Dayton metro area increased 15% last year to an all-time high of 8,820.

• Kettering woman: Today’s story is about an 80-year-old Kettering woman. The Dayton Daily News agreed not to identify her because she is a fraud victim. She agreed to share her story — braving the embarrassment that fraud victims often feel — in the hopes it’ll help other people avoid such scams.

• How it started: The woman fell into scammers’ trap when she called a number she thought was for Google because she was having trouble logging into her account. The man who answered convinced her he was a Google technician and would help her. He gave her a fake name, employee ID number and enough to make him sound credible.

• The scheme grows: The scammer said her account was hacked, and her bank information was at risk. He brought in another man claiming to be from her bank, who told her they need to move her money to a safe place.

- “I should have said ‘I’ll get back to you some other time,’ then called my bank and told them ‘Put holds on everything. Don’t let anything go out,’ but ... they just convinced me,” she said.

• Springing the trap: The scammers convinced the woman to visit several bank branches, withdrawing more than $50,000 and transferring it to their control.

- “They (the scammers) kept me on the phone, (which was) in my pocket, not talking to them, but ... kind of keeping their ear on things,” she said. They said, ‘Now don’t say anything to any of the employees, because we don’t know that one of them isn’t maybe in cahoots with this.“

• Reporting: By the time she figured out it was a scam, it was too late. Police said there was nothing they could do. They gave her a pamphlet with information, including how to contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center, or IC3, “the central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime.”

• Imposters: The woman fell victim to what’s called an imposter scam, where the fraudster claims to be with the government, a bank or another trusted agency. New FTC data shows consumers reported losing $12.5 billion via fraud in 2024, which was a 25% increase from 2023. Ohio’s top three were business imposters, online shopping and government imposters.

• Protect yourself: The Ohio Attorney General’s Office cautions to never allow strangers remote access to your device. “Know that technical support companies will not call you if there is a problem with your device,” the AG’s Office warns on its cybersecurity site. That site and our story have multiple tips to protect yourself.