Fairview Police Bust Theft Ring

Fairview Police were called to Kohl’s Department Store on November 16  on a report of a group of males stealing items and making fraudulent returns. As police were arriving, the suspects were leaving in a vehicle, which was subsequently stopped. Five occupants were detained, three arrested for attempting the fraudulent returns. The other two subjects had outstanding warrants from N Olmsted PD, Lakewood PD and out of Pennsylvania. They were arrested on the warrants.

 

Attempted Fraud

 

November 12, 2014  Attempted Fraud: A Westwood Ave resident reported receiving a call from a male claiming to be from the IRS. The foreign sounding male claimed he owed $5000 in back taxes and tried to get the resident to wire money via Western Union to avoid arrest. The resident recognized it as a scam and did not comply, wanted us aware of the attempt. In a similar incident, a senior center patron reported receiving an email claiming a similar situation but also did not fall for the scam.

 

Assault

 

November 12, 2014   Simple Assault  1511 hrs: Police were called to Fairview High School on a reported fight. Upon arrival the fight was over and the aggressor had left. Investigation revealed that the 17 yr old victim was walking to his car and another student was trying to start a fight. The victim ignored him and got in his car to leave. Another student then came up and kicked his car, damaging the bumper. The victim got out and this other student started punching him and threw him to the ground. The fight was broken up. The victim suffered minor injuries, follow up done by the officer and Assault charges to be filed on the 16 yr old subject via Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.

 

Musical iPhone

 

November 15, 2014  Theft McDonalds employee called reporting that someone had left an iPhone in the restaurant. A male came in shortly after and described it, so it was given to him. Shortly after, another male came in who actually owned the phone and was tracking it. A name was obtained from McDonalds of the male the phone was given to. Utilizing the tracking software, the subject was located, stopped and arrested with the phone on his person. He also had a temporary protection order issued against him and he was in the company of the protected person. He is being charged with Theft and Violating a TPO, the female charged with Complicity in the theft of the phone.

 

Fraud

 

November 15, 2014  Theft/Credit Car Fraud A Lakewood resident called reporting the theft of her wallet and a subsequent fraudulent use of her debit card. She reports that she inadvertently left her wallet in a cart at Target. When she realized it, she went back in and the wallet was gone. Shortly after, she got a phone text reporting the use of her debit card. She discovered that two charges had been made totaling over $300 at the Rocky River Home Depot, about one mile away from Target. Police are following up with both Target and Home Depot to see if video footage is available of the theft/.fraudulent use of the card.