WEST AKRON: Police responded to a Merriman Road store April 7 when employees reported a man filled a shopping cart with merchandise worth more than $300, left the store without paying and fled in a vehicle. The suspect was apprehended when he was involved in a vehicle pursuit with Cuyahoga Falls Police that resulted in a traffic crash and police found the stolen items in the trunk of his car. He was charged with theft.
Police patrolling Copley Road April 8 stopped a driver for a traffic violation and arrested him on a warrant for carrying a concealed weapon. He denied there were firearms in the vehicle, but after being arrested and told the vehicle would be searched, he admitted there was a firearm under the driver’s seat. Police recovered the loaded weapon and charged him with carrying a concealed weapon, failure to disclose a weapon, having a weapon while under disability and improper handling of a firearm in a vehicle and took him to the Summit County Jail.
Employees called police to a West Market Street store April 8 when officers spotted a man who had been banned from the store on previous occasions, walking in the parking lot. He was charged with trespassing and taken to the Summit County Jail.
Following a traffic stop on Rand Avenue April 9, a driver admitted he had no driving privileges and surrendered methamphetamine and a drug pipe. He was charged with felony drug possession and possession of paraphernalia.
A woman was charged with theft April 9 when she concealed two bottles of wine in her purse and attempted to leave a South Hawkins Avenue store without paying for it.
At 3:30 a.m. April 9, police patrolling Hamlin Street observed a woman riding a bicycle without lights and determined she was wanted on a theft warrant. She was charged with the traffic violation and possession of methamphetamine, found in her pocket during her arrest.
Police patrolling Diagonal Road April 9 stopped a driver for a traffic violation and charged him with driving under suspension. He was additionally charged with possession of crack cocaine, after a bag containing the substance fell out of the bottom of his pants when he exited the vehicle, and another bag containing crack cocaine was found in the vehicle door compartment.
A road rage incident involving two women who were driving on Merriman Road April 10 resulted in one of the women turning on North Highland Avenue and the other woman following her, exiting her vehicle and calling the first driver names. The victim did not exit her vehicle. The other woman got back into her vehicle and her son, who was a passenger, leaned out of the window and pointed a gun at the first driver. Police viewed video surveillance of the man pointing the weapon and confiscated the hand gun. He was arrested for aggravated menacing and taken to the Summit County Jail.
Following an investigation into ongoing suspicious activity, public safety and nuisance-related concerns at a location on Kenmore Boulevard, police executed a search warrant at an establishment April 10. Officers seized 22 gambling machines, more than $14,000 cash, methamphetamine, a handgun and other equipment and charged two men and a woman with operating a gambling house and violation of prohibition against gambling.
On April 10, police stopped a driver for a traffic violation on Norma Avenue and charged her with driving under suspension and possession of Oxycodone, found during a search of her vehicle.
Police investigated a traffic crash that occurred at 6:25 a.m. April 15 when a driver failed to negotiate a curve while traveling in the southbound lanes of Ghent Road and struck a cement sign. A fire under the hood of the vehicle was quickly extinguished. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said speed and/or alcohol consumption did not appear to have been factors in the crash, which remains under investigation.
BATH: A woman was charged with theft and banned from a Medina Road store April 6 after police determined she concealed merchandise worth $103 in her purse and left the store without paying for it.
On April 6, police gathered evidence from the scene of a burglary on North Hametown Road where suspects entered the residence at an unknown time during the past two days.
A Beaverbrook Drive man reported April 6 he received letters from two financial institutions notifying him that an unknown person used his identity in an attempt to obtain credit cards.
The manager called police to a sports-wellness business on Medina Road April 8 stating a client created a disturbance and made several harassing phone calls and messages to the business. The manager declined police involvement but wanted the issue documented. Police advised employees to call if the man returns.
Police patrolling North Medina Line and Granger roads at 5:40 a.m. April 8, stopped an erratic driver, who admitted he had no driver’s license and continued moving about and searching through items in the car despite repeated commands to stop. He was advised his vehicle would be towed. He was removed from the vehicle and placed in a police cruiser. A pat-down search revealed something concealed in a body part and he was asked to remove the object, which was a pill bottle. He stated it contained medication belonging to a family member, then said it contained bath salts, then stated it was “white horse,” which is a slang term for heroin. He continued making contradictory statements about the contents, which tested positive for methamphetamine. Police confiscated syringes and paraphernalia belonging to the driver, an unmarked bottle containing suspected Xanax and medication belonging to the vehicle owner, from under the vehicle seat. The driver was charged with driving under suspension, felony and misdemeanor drug possession and possession of drug abuse instruments and paraphernalia.
The driver of a vehicle with a fictitious license plate was stopped on Cleveland-Massillon Road April 9. He was charged with driving without a license and having fictitious license plates and given a courtesy transport to Akron.
On April 10, police and a school resource officer were investigating an incident at a home where police assisted EMS workers when a juvenile experienced a medical issue after smoking a vapor device containing THC.
Employees of a Medina Road bar reported April 11 an intoxicated woman left the bar, got into a vehicle and drove away. Police located her in the parking lot of another bar and determined she was intoxicated. She was charged with DUI and driving under suspension.
Following a traffic stop on Ghent Road April 12, police determined the driver was under five license suspensions. He was charged with driving under suspension and multiple traffic violations.
Police stopped a driver for a traffic violation on Medina Road April 14 and questioned him about the odor of marijuana in the vehicle. He admitted smoking it before driving. Police confiscated marijuana and THC wax from the vehicle and logged it as evidence. He was released with a traffic citation.
COPLEY: Police responded to the intersection of Cleveland-Massillon and Summit roads the night of April 8 when they found a vehicle had gone off the road and come to rest in the woods. The driver was attempting to exit the vehicle. He exhibited signs of intoxication and fell over while attempting to take a field sobriety test. He was evaluated by EMS and transported to a hospital, where police completed testing and charged him with DUI.
At 7 a.m. April 11, police officers and employees arriving for work at the township complex on Cleveland-Massillon Road were accosted by a reckless driver who sped through the parking lot, cursing at them through an open vehicle window and making obscene hand gestures. The driver sped out of the lot, returned and drove toward a police cruiser. Police stopped him on Cleveland-Massillon Road and he closed his windows, locked the doors and refused to exit the vehicle. He was forcefully removed by officers, who determined he was wanted on a warrant for criminal mischief. He was charged with failure to comply with police orders.
Police and a school resource officer investigated an item given to them April 11 at a school on Cleveland-Massillon Road. It was a bag containing what appeared to be a homemade facsimile handgun with missing parts.
Employees called police to a disturbance in the lobby of a Montrose West Avenue hotel April 12 when a woman stated her two-month-old infant was locked in her room and her key card was not working to open the door. Police obtained a key and retrieved the baby. She became upset with employees and started breaking things in the hotel. She was charged with vandalism and placed in a cruiser with her child. She was advised to leave, but before she left with the baby, police verified the identity she had provided and determined it was false. She admitted she lied to avoid being arrested on a warrant for a child-restraint traffic violation. She was taken to the Barberton Municipal Court, where she was released on a signature bond.
On April 12, police responded to a report that a man and woman were fighting in a room of a Montrose West Avenue hotel. Officers determined the woman held a court order prohibiting the man from being in contact with her. He was arrested for violation of a protection order and taken to the Summit County Jail.
Police responded to a report of a robbery at a Montrose West Avenue hotel April 14 and spoke to a woman who was wanted on a warrant. She admitted that her friends post ads for sexual services and she responds to various locations to provide service. The robbery report was filed by a man who said he paid for her service and she left without providing it. The woman had lied to police about her identity because she was wanted on a warrant. She was charged with obstruction of official business, advised to take care of the warrant and released.
A man, who was standing in the traffic lanes at the intersection of Wright and Jacoby roads at 5:45 a.m. April 15, was arrested on a warrant and released to Barberton Police.
FAIRLAWN: On April 9, police summoned the owner of a Crawfis Boulevard business to court for selling secondhand watches without a permit.
Police investigated the theft of a box containing electronic equipment worth more than $700 from a West Market Street business April 10. Officers were told members of a cleaning crew mistakenly placed the box in a dumpster and police were unable to locate it. Video surveillance showed a suspect take the box from the dumpster.
Loss prevention agents called police to a West Market Street store April 11 stating a man who had been banned from the store was stuffing merchandise into a bag. Police observed him leave the store and recovered stolen items worth $76. The Oakdale Avenue man was charged with theft and trespassing and was released to Summit County deputies on a warrant.
Police investigated the theft of a catalytic converter from a rental vehicle parked in the lot of an Embassy Parkway hotel April 11. Officers viewed video surveillance of a suspect who is seen tampering with the vehicle at 5:40 a.m. and leaving in a vehicle.
At 6:12 a.m. April 11, police responded to an alarm at a closed restaurant on West Market Street and found glass in the front door had been broken. Video surveillance showed a suspect break the glass, enter the building at 5:04 a.m. and steal two cash drawers and a safe, leaving in an unknown vehicle driven by a second suspect. Stolen cash and property totaled more than $4,500.
NORTON: Police are working with officers in Columbus to contact the owner of a vehicle that sideswiped another vehicle while the two drove in the westbound lanes of I-76 April 2 and left the scene. The victim gave police video surveillance from a dashboard camera, which showed the vehicle leave its lane of travel and strike the victim’s vehicle, causing damage.
At 1:10 p.m. April 8, police observed a large crowd of people gathered in Columbia Woods Park to observe the solar eclipse and saw a drone flying over the crowd. Officers checked to find out whether the drone had been assigned a remote ID and were unable to find any that had been assigned to fly in the area. Police located the pilot of the drone in a nearby parking lot and walked toward him. He quickly called back the drone, put it into a vehicle and drove away. Police stopped the vehicle and spoke to the pilot, who admitted he had not been certified to fly a drone over open air assemblies. He also stated he did not have a Part 107 pilot license, which is now required to fly a drone, nor had he received recent training. He was advised to get the proper training, register the device, get a required remote ID and not to fly over crowds.
RICHFIELD: On March 25, police went to the Cuyahoga County Jail, picked up a man being released after serving time on an unrelated charge and booked him into the Richfield Jail on a warrant.
On several occasions March 26, police responded to 911 calls from a Hart Road man stating people were attempting to break into his home. Officers searched, but were unable to find anyone in the home or garage. He was asked about his medication and whether he would allow an evaluation by EMS. He agreed, but declined hospital transport. Police again checked his residence and outside area and assured him no one was there. Police advised him not to call 911 again unless it was an emergency. An officer reached out to a social service agency to inquire whether help was available for him.
Police investigated a suspicious email message received on an automated phone line at a Broadview Road facility March 26 and noted that similar messages, received in other locations, had been scams.
On March 27, a hospital social worker asked police to check the welfare of a woman who is living in a car at a location on Brecksville Road and refuses to go to a shelter in Summit County. Officers spoke to her and she stated she would only go to a Cuyahoga County shelter, but they would not admit her. Police gave her some food and advised her to call if she needed assistance of any kind. She refused police assistance in finding her a place to go, and officers said they would check on her again.
Police responded to a disturbance involving family members at a Hart Road residence March 27. The parties stated no physical altercation had occurred and one of them agreed to leave.
A woman went to the police station March 28 to report a suspicious phone call she received from an unknown person who had the last four digits of her Social Security number and asked her to supply the rest of the numbers. She hung up the phone and reported the call to police, who advised her to monitor her bank and credit accounts and report any suspicious activity.
Officers responded to a location on Wheatley Road March 31 when movers were involved in a heated dispute with a man whose belongings were being moved. They said there was a disagreement about the cost to move the items. Police explained that it was a civil matter, but due to concern the matter could escalate to a physical confrontation, police stood by while the parties came to an agreement and signed a new contract.
Employees called police to the parking lot of a Wheatley Road business March 31 when a custody exchange resulted in a confrontation between the stepmother of the child and the boyfriend of the child’s mother. The stepmother stated the man opened the door of her van and tapped her shoulder, and requested that assault charges be filed. Police stated they would interview all parties, view video surveillance and conduct further investigation.
The police reports were compiled by Maggie DeMellier and are based on those made available to the West Side Leader.
