CLEVELAND - A Leavittsburg man who died in a hospital here more than two months ago was beaten to death, a coroner's investigation revealed.
Curtis J. Cutlip, 32, 4091 W. Nelson Mosier Road, Leavittsburg, died Nov. 14 at University Hospital's Case Medical Center one day after officers found him beaten and unconscious outside of 339 Vine Ave. N.E., Warren.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner ruled Cutlip's death a homicide by way of blunt force impacts to his head, trunk and extremities, which caused skeletal, internal and soft tissue injuries.
Investigators said they have treated the case as a homicide from the beginning.
Police have not issued a warrant in the case.
The ruling makes 10 homicides in 2011 in Warren, more than double the four homicides in 2010 and the same number of homicides in 2009.
Police said Cutlip and another man fought in the street about 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14. Reports said a group of young girls discovered the body in the street. The girls told a man who lived nearby that they saw a man kick Cutlip in the head while he was on the ground and that he left in a white truck.
A neighbor, however, told police he thought the man was driving a tan Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle.
Officers arrived and reported the man was lying face down unconscious and that he was "barely breathing."
Cutlip was taken to Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where reports said he regained consciousness. Cutlip refused to give police details about the fight, saying the only reason he was in the hospital was because he was sick, reports said.
Officers reported there were no visible signs of injuries.
Residents in the 300 block of Vine N.E. said they have noticed an increase in violence, drugs and prostitution in the area, which is spotted with boarded up and vacant houses.
Investigators believe there is no connection, however, between the beating and an incident two days before in which Cutlip was yelling in the street that he had been shot at, then was found on top of a wholesale distributor company's building. On the day he died, Cutlip was scheduled to appear in court on charges of falsification and criminal trespassing. Reports said Cutlip was yelling at Griswold Street residents that people were shooting at him. Officers responded to the area and found Cutlip climbing to the roof of Trumbull Industries, 250 Dietz Road, Warren.
Officers reported Cutlip was "acting erratic" and that he changed his story about being shot at several times. They believed he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time.
Reports said Cutlip told officers several times that his name was Roger Cutlip, his brother's name. Cutlip came down from the building, with several cuts on his hands and was taken to Trumbull Memorial on his request.
An employee of Trumbull Industries told police Cutlip had stolen from the business in the past and was asked to stay off the property.
There has been one homicide this year in Warren, when Domin'que L. Hugley, 21, 2042 Saratoga Ave. S.W., was gunned down Jan. 12 on Third Street S.W. A murder warrant was issued for Daron Warfield Jr., 23.