By Kaylee Remington
Cleveland.com
PARMA, Ohio — The owners of a Parma bar where two Cleveland brothers are accused of killing an off-duty Cuyahoga County corrections officer and a bar patron will hire police to provide security in the wake of the killings.
In a Facebook post published late Thursday, the owners of Rookies Sports Bar & Grill said the plan to add police security is one of several changes they’re making in response to Saturday’s shooting.
“We want to continue to ensure that our team, customers and community feel comfortable in a place that we can all enjoy,” the post says. “There will be changes, some subtle and some more evident.”
Parma police will be in the bar and at the Parma Heights location on West 130th Street near Pearl Road, the post says. Some officers will be in uniform, while others will be in plain clothes.
The move comes after the Cuyahoga County sheriff announced the temporary suspension of all outside security employment for sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers from the county jail.
Corrections officer Timoteo “Tim” Cruz was working security at the bar when he and 29-year-old bar patron Sean Michael Acierno were shot and killed.
Siblings Juan Carlo Perez, 27, and Luis Carlos Candelario, 30, are charged in the shooting. Perez faces two counts of aggravated murder and his brother, Candelario, faces two counts of complicity to commit aggravated murder. Both remain in the Cuyahoga County Jail without bond.
Perez is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday, court records say.
Candelario is expected to make his first appearance Tuesday before a judge in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors will present Candelario’s case to a grand jury to determine what charges he could face.
Angel and Tracy Augusto did not say when they plan to reopen the Parma location. Their Parma Heights bar remains open.
“Our belief that Rookies is and can continue to be a place where the local community can enjoy some pretty good bar food, watch your local teams win (or try to!),” the post says. “Share memories with family/ friends, hold their fundraisers, play pool and darts with all the comfort they deserve.”
Bar staff asked Candelario and Perez to leave the bar about 2:15 a.m. after an altercation, police said.
When they got outside, Acierno said something to the brothers, but the interaction between the brothers and Acierno did not appear to be confrontational, police noted after watching the surveillance camera footage.
Perez shot at Acierno several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Cruz saw what happened and fired back. Perez also shot Cruz several times.
Perez suffered a gunshot to the leg and crawled to a car being driven by Candelario.
Cruz was taken to MetroHealth where he died from his injuries.
Parma police did not return a call seeking comment on this story.
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