On 7/14/18 at about 12:26pm, an officer stopped a vehicle for equipment violations on I90 at the Avon border. Upon contact with the driver, a 22yo from Euclid, the officer learned that not only did he have a suspended license, but he had 3 outstanding warrants for his arrest. The 3 occupants, none of which had valid licenses, were removed from the vehicle and questioned. Upon checking the car, officers located a loaded semi-automatic handgun along with high capacity magazines, suspected marijuana, and a digital scale. The driver of the vehicle admitted he had hidden the weapon in the car. He was charged with felony carrying a concealed weapon, possession a weapon under disability and possessing marijuana along with various misdemeanor charges. The other 2 occupants were released without charges.
On 7/15/18 at approx. 1:30Am, an officer ran the rear plate of a vehicle. The plate caught the officer’s eye because it was propped up in the rear window of the Audi. The license plate was entered as stolen out of Cleveland. The car was stopped and the driver, a 19yo female from Westlake, was questioned. She stated that the vehicle was recently purchased off of Craigslist from an unknown seller. Also, inexplicably, she claimed that the plate was given to her by an acquaintance. She did not know the name either. The vehicle was towed and the female operator was arrested and charged with felony receiving stolen property.
On 7/16/18 at about 1am, a male called 911 to report that his neighbor’s garage was on fire. Officers arrived to find a detached garage on Smith Ave fully engulfed. Westlake Fire responded and doused the blaze while officers evacuated nearby residences. Unfortunately the garage and 2 vehicles inside were a complete loss. There was also some damage to neighboring garages. No person was injured. The fire appears to be an accident.
On 7/18/18 at 3:32PM, WPD received a report that an unknown male unlawfully entered the hotel room of a guest at the Sonesta Suites on Clemens Rd. The male assaulted the complainant and stole items from the room before fleeing. Officers and detectives arrived on scene and determined that other hotel rooms had also been entered unlawfully. In all, 2 other victims of thefts from rooms, these unoccupied, were identified. Using surveillance video and other investigative methods, the suspect was located on an RTA bus after leaving the scene. The male, a 19yo from Cleveland, was still in possession of some of the stolen items. He was arrested within 4.5 hours after the initial report and was charged with several felonies including aggravated burglary. The follow-up investigation is ongoing.
On 7/18/18 at 11:14PM, an officer witnessed a vehicle commit a traffic violation that almost caused a collision with another vehicle. The suspect car was stopped in the area of Columbia Rd between Detroit and Hilliard. The driver apologized for the mistake but the back seat passenger seemed out of it. It turns out the 22yo from North Olmsted had an active warrant. When he stepped out of the vehicle he left behind a small baggie of suspected marijuana on the seat. A search of the car yielded mason jars of suspected marijuana along with a scale and various narcotic pills. The passenger and the driver, a 19yo from Westlake, were both arrested and charged with felony drug trafficking.
(Photo courtesy Westlake Police)
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