Toledo’s housing-court judge convicted an Oregon man Tuesday for violating the city’s nuisance code with a vacant commercial building he owns in Toledo’s Old South End, but deferred sentencing pending a potential sale of the property.
After a 90-minute trial at which Prakash Thombre represented himself, Judge Joseph J. Howe told the owner of the two-story building at 1023 Broadway St. that selling the property would not be as complicated as he seemed to believe.
But Mr. Thombre said outside the courthouse that he still thinks he will have trouble finding a buyer as long as the court has to approve the deal.
Testifying in his own defense, Mr. Thombre argued that he never received a violation notice the city sent him in 2022 after Shar Tilman, a city building inspector, performed a July 7 outdoor inspection in response to an Engage Toledo complaint.
The violation notice ordered correction of peeling paint, broken and impermissibly boarded windows, and brick sidewalls needing repair, Ms. Tilman testified. She was the first of several witnesses who conceded under Mr. Thombre’s cross examination that the city had no proof he ever received the notice.