Police and court briefs

Authorities seek man accused of stealing

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help finding a man accused of stealing from unlocked cars in Painesville Township over the course of several months.

According to the Sheriff’s Office the rash of theft reports began in October, with several items being taken from unlocked cars.

With the help of video surveillance from area residents, the Sheriff’s Office was able to identify the suspect as Mason Vaughn,

Vaughn, 20, of Madison Township, has a lengthy record in Painesville Municipal

Court, including several theft charges.

The Sheriff’s Office has an active warrant out for Vaughn’s arrest.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Allan Moon 440350-5532.

Driver crashes into Rite Aid support beam

Nobody was injured after a Rite Aid customer drove into a support beam in front of the Willowick store on Dec. 11.

The incident happened at 9:16 a.m. at the 30500 Lakeshore Blvd. store according to police. The driver also hit another vehicle in the parking lot.

Police said “quite a bit of damage was done to the building, but contractors came to make repairs.”

License plate reader helps Lyndhurst PD

Police in Lyndhurst on Dec. 10 arrested three suspects driving a stolen vehicle in which officers subsequently found two loaded handguns, one of which had been reported stolen out of East Cleveland, according to a news release from Lyndhurst Police Chief Rick Porrello.

On Dec. 10, at approximately 4:41 p.m., a Lyndhurst police officer was on patrol when his unit’s license plate reader alerted to a stolen vehicle, according to the release. The car was a 2017 Hyundai Elantra belonging to Hertz Rental Car and taken from Warren, Ohio.

Porrello’s release shows officers then watched the vehicle while it was parked and unattended until three people returned to it and were arrested on site.

The release states officers searched the car and found the two loaded guns. An 18-year-old man, 17-year-old male and a 17-year-old female were arrested at the scene.

Porrello states charges are pending against the trio and that the incident highlights “the hidden dangers that police officers face, the benefits of LPR technology and may have prevented a violent crime.”

Man accused of illegal firearms possession

A Bedford Heights man who is not allowed to have a gun was arrested Dec. 12 in Mentor on multiple felony charges after being accused of having a Smith & Wesson pistol in his possession, Mentor Municipal Court records show.

Brian K. Hoyle, who is a 31-year-old resident of 5559 Meadow Lane, is charged with third-degree felony having a weapon under disability and one fourth-degree felony count each of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon, along with a fourth-degree misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge, his arraignment documents confirm.

If convicted of all there felonies, Hoyle could get up to six years behind bars.

He’s free after posting a $50,000/10 percent cash/ surety bond and has a pretrial/preliminary hearing scheduled Dec. 21.