Entrepreneur Bobby George, who owns TownHall, REBoL and Barley House, turned himself in after a warrant was issued for multiple charges, including attempted murder and rape, his attorney says.
His bond was set at $200,000, and he was released from jail on Tuesday afternoon.
George was issued a temporary protection order during the arraignment.
During George's hearing, his attorney, Kevin Spellacy, asked for a $100,000 bond, saying his client had no prior felony history and has "great" ties to the community.
The prosecutor agreed to a $100,000 bond.
Judge Sheila Turner McCall then asked the prosecutor, "With all of this probable cause, that's all you have to say?" The prosecutor responded, "Yes."
The judge then said she was not going to issue a $100,000 bond because the probable cause was "horrible." She then doubled the bond amount to $200,000.
According to Cleveland Municipal Court records, a warrant had been issued on the following charges:
- One count of attempted murder.
- One count of rape.
- Four counts of kidnapping.
- One count of felonious assault.
- Two counts of strangulation
All the charges are felonies.
RELATED: Arrest warrant issued for Cleveland restaurant owner Bobby George on attempted murder, rape charges
The warrant
Records state that the alleged events happened as early as Nov. 14, 2023, to as recent as July 31, 2024. The alleged assaults were reported on Aug. 9.
On Nov. 14, 2023, George is accused of pinning a woman to the ground, strangling her and slamming her head into the ground multiple times, resulting in post-concussion syndrome.
Between Nov. 1, 2023, and May 1, 2024, George allegedly followed a woman out to her car, demanded she exit the vehicle and held a gun to the window to "encourage her to exit the vehicle." Once she got out of the car, he put the gun to her stomach and escorted her back inside the home she fled, records state.
Between June 8-10, 2024, George allegedly tried to kill a woman by "shoving a towel down the victim's throat and stating 'You think God is going to help you?' while she was attempting to pray in the closet that she would not die." Furthermore, he refused to let the woman leave the residence and strangled and assaulted her.
Sometime between May 1, 2024, and July 31, 2024, he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman who had just gotten out of the shower.
On July 27, he allegedly threw a woman in a closet when she was trying to leave the residence.
According to a request for high bond by police, there is an audio recording of the defendant admitting to and apologizing for some of the offenses while telling the victim he loves her and is going to marry her.
The police report
A police report filed last Thursday states last October, the woman told police George grabbed her by the hair and smashed her head into a table multiple times resulting in blood coming from her ears for which she had to be hospitalized.
According to the report, George paid for the treatment.
And the woman claims in the report, she has proof of George admitting to the assaults.
The temporary protection order
In court, George agreed to a temporary protection order.
George cannot be within 500 feet of his accuser.
The order states George must not use any electronic surveillance on the woman, among other restrictions including turning over any guns immediately to Cleveland police.
In the police report, the victim said George put trackers on her phone and car and believed George had people following her.
George's attorney responds
"If his last name was Smith, we wouldn’t be talking. Okay? The Georges are obviously people of interest in our community," Spellacy said.
Spellacy confirmed with News 5 that he is representing George in this case.
He said George was not only caught off guard by the allegations but mortified.
Spellacy said George's connection to the victim is that they were in a relationship.
"I just don't understand how something like this could happen where someone doesn't come and knock on your door. I've represented professional athletes. I've represented professional people and I don't understand... It's not like you woke up and somebody said, 'Hey, police were at their house last night and Bobby and so-and-so were there and she has a black eye,'" Spellacy stated. "And police go, 'What happened?' 'He punched me.' Okay, then you arrest him. Right?"
Spellacy said law enforcement should have asked the victim more questions and claims they failed to do so.
"It's 101 to me. I think the last name made a difference in this instance," he added.
Spellacy told News 5 there is video proof showing after the July 27 allegation, the victim was hanging out with George again for about a week.
"In this instance, Mr. George is being treated extremely unfairly by an incompetent City of Cleveland law department with a lack of investigation. They didn’t do their homework," Spellacy explained.
Spellacy said the case appeared before a Cuyahoga County judge on Friday, where he was allegedly first charged with murder.
"They charged him with murder which is ridiculous. It should be attempted murder if you want to believe anything the young person had to say. They couldn't even get that right. A second grader does better than they did in this instance, but whatever," Spellacy stated.
The charge as of Monday night does read attempted murder.
"They changed it because I had to educate them in the last 24 hours," Spellacy said.
News 5 asked Spellacy on Monday if the plan was for George to turn himself in.
"This is how bad they are — we've been trying for a day to do that. They don't even understand how to do that. I've done this over 35 years, probably 200 times, but the new crew I'm dealing with have no idea what they're doing. Eventually, yes, we'll turn him in," Spellacy said. "I tried all day today. I'll try again tomorrow. That's our plan."
Spellacy said he called the detective who issued the charges, and he was allegedly told to call the clerk of courts.
"I mean, really? Not in my lifetime has that happened. Usually the detective says to me, 'Yes, thank you, Mr. Spellacy. Bring him to my office and I'll have him processed. Bring him to the Third District. Bring him to the First District. Bring him to the Second District; we'll process him,'" Spellacy said. "That's not how this works."
His attorney, Kevin Spellacy, said they've been working with US Marshals since Saturday for George's surrender.
The City of Cleveland's Law Director released the following statement to News 5:
This case was investigated by the Division of Police’s Domestic Violence Unit and was handled the same way that similar cases are handled every single day. Information is gathered, evidence is presented to the prosecutor, and an objective decision is made solely based on the facts. This is a case that involves multiple incidents, and, in this instance, several pieces of evidence were obtained before a charging decision was made. 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. The investigation remains ongoing.
