Cleveland area entrepreneur Bobby George is facing several felony charges in Cleveland Municipal Court, and a warrant was issued for his arrest Friday.
George, 43, owns several Cleveland-area businesses, including TownHall and Harry Buffalo, as well as a TownHall location in Columbus' Short North arts district.
The charges include attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping and one count of rape.
George's attorney Kevin Spellacy said Monday his client should never have been charged and Cleveland's prosecutor's office "demonstrated incompetence" and rushed to judgment in bringing the case.
"Anybody who has been practicing law and would do a thorough job would have done a better investigation of this before they issued any charges," he said. "I’m extremely critical of the city of Cleveland in this matter."
He said George's notoriety contributed to the city's decision to press charges.
"If my client’s last name was Smith rather than George, we wouldn’t be talking today," he said.
The city handled this case the same way it handles all cases, said Cleveland Law Director Mark Griffin, in a statement released to Ideastream Monday.
"It’s imperative for the public to know that this case was treated according to standard protocols like any other case — regardless of the defendant’s name, title, or occupation," Griffin said via a city spokesperson. "The investigation remains ongoing."
The accusations that led to the charges were brought by a woman with whom George was romantically involved, Spellacy confirmed.
"The justice system should be better than that and in this instance, it failed, and it failed from the top from the city of Cleveland so far," he said. "I’m anxious for this to get to the county where it can get a proper review and a proper investigation."
Griffin said the investigation was handled by the Division of Police's domestic violence unit.
"Information is gathered, evidence is presented to the prosecutor, and an objective decision is made solely based on the facts," he said. "This is a case that involves multiple incidents and, in this instance, several pieces of evidence were obtained before a charging decision was made."
