Elyria brothers accused of theft

A pair of Elyria brothers are facing charges after police say they stole the coin machines from a local car wash.

Jonathan Cain, 31, and Jacob Cain, 28, are facing charges of tampering with coin machines and vandalism after their arrests on Aug. 30.

At 7:45 p.m. on Aug. 26, officers were dispatched to the car wash in the 700 block of Chestnut Commons Drive where the complainant told them he’d caught the two men on video prying open the coin and bill changers off of vacuum units at the front of the property, Elyria police Capt. Christopher Costantino said.

Detectives were able to identify the men by checking the video and running a 30-day tag on their getaway vehicle, which returned as belonging to their mother, Costantino said.

They were arrested Aug. 30 at a home in the 1300 block of East Avenue, Costantino said.

“These two admitted that this was fueled as a result of a heroin addiction on both their parts,” he said. “It’s very important for us to try to get on these very quickly, because we’ve found that if we don’t that this will become a pattern and they’ll go out and just keep doing it until eventually they’re caught.”

Costantino said police were not able to recover the stolen money as the men claimed they hid it in a dumpster that was subsequently emptied.

Both men are being held at the Lorain County Jail on $3,500 bond. They will next appear in Elyria Municipal Court on Sept. 7 for preliminary hearings.