The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
Westlake Police arrested two suspects connected to a string of catalytic converter thefts from Westlake vehicles.
The string of thefts and subsequent video survellience evidence allowed police to set up a stake out that resulted in the arrests of a man and woman, both Cleveland residents, allegedly associated with the thefts.
The String of Thefts
On 2/17/22 an owner of a business in the 29000 block of Clemens Rd reported that a catalytic converter had been sawed off the bottom of the company van during the previous night. Surveillance footage showed 2 persons entering the property in a light colored 4 door sedan with no hub caps. One person exited the car and within 3 minutes cut the expensive exhaust part off the vehicle before fleeing without headlights.
On 2/20/22 an owner of a business on Sharon Dr called to report that 2 of his trucks had been victimized the evening before by having their catalytic converters cut off.
On 2/22/22 an owner of another business on Sharon Dr called to report that 2 of their work trucks had been damaged. Between 2/17 and 2/21 both trucks’ catalytic converters had been tampered with. A suspect cut off one of the converters and took it from the scene. The other was still there but was badly damaged.
Also on 2/22/22, the owner of a business in the 24000 block of Sperry Dr reported that they too found that a catalytic converter was stolen off of one of their work vans during the overnight hours. Surveillance footage showed a 4 door silver sedan with a female driver enter the property just before midnight the night before. This suspect vehicle did not have hubcaps.
Investigators utilized surveillance footage and police databases to confirm that the same vehicle had been used in all 4 incidents. A license plate was obtained but it had been reported as stolen out of the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland.
The Arrests
On the evening of 2/22/22, Westlake Detectives and Patrol Officers initiated a detail to attempt to catch the thieves red handed. At about 11:45PM their patience paid off. A silver Chevy Cobalt with no hub caps pulled into the same closed business on Clemens Rd as the 2/17 incident. The license plate was the same stolen plate as previously identified. Once the suspect male exited the Cobalt to attempt to repeat his past thievery, a detective approached. The man jumped back into the Cobalt and the female pulled the car out of the lot only to be greeted by marked Westlake police cars. The pair stopped without further incident. Both were taken into custody. Officers documented that the vehicle contained a Sawzall in plain view along with several spare Sawzall blades. Suspected marijuana and heroin were confiscated.
The Charges
41yo Anthony Jana was charged with felony breaking and entering. He said he was originally from Cleveland but listed a homeless shelter as his address. Additional counts of breaking and entering, theft and possession of drugs are expected. 37yo Melissa Habart was charged with felony breaking and entering. Additional counts of theft are expected as well as felony conveyance of drugs into a jail as corrections officers found that Habart was in possession of suspected heroin in the Westlake lockup.
Both subjects waived their preliminary hearings in Rocky River Municipal Court and have been bound over to the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury. Both were transferred to the county jail.
