POLICE: AMBULANCE THIEF WAS ESCAPING KIDNAPPERS

Man said he was held, tortured at home across from fire station.

CLEARCREEK TWP. — A man accused of stealing a Clearcreek Twp. ambulance over the weekend told police he did it to escape captivity.

A 22 year-old man told police he had been held against his will and tortured at a home across the street from the Clearcreek Twp. fire station on Lytle Five Points Road. He said he escaped the home Saturday and then stole the ambulance to get away.

O ne of the tenants of the home, Christopher Edwards, 38, of Warren County, has been arrested and is facing charges of felonious assault and kidnapping, according to the Clearcreek Twp. police department.

Clearcreek Twp. Sgt. Wallace Stacy said there will likely be more suspects and charges in the near future.

“This has really taken a bizarre turn on us,” Stacy said.

Edwards, “with the assistance of others,” held the victim in a dog cage against his will for several days and assaulted him, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday with the Warren County Municipal Court. Stacy said the victim told police he was forced to sleep in the dog cage.

Edwards was subletting the basement of the home on Lytle Five Points Road from another person, Stacy said.

On Saturdayafternoon, Clearcreek T wp. police were dispatched to the fire station on reports someone had broken in and stolen an ambulance. When police got there, they found a window broken. Shortly after, officers were called to Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton where police had found the ambulance.

The victim remained hospitalized late Monday. He was initially being investigated for stealing the ambulance, but Stacy said police are not considering pressing charges at this time.

Stacy said the fire station was the closest structure to the home and firefighters on duty Saturday were out on a run when the victim came to the station.

Police executed a search warrant over the weekend on the Lytle Five Points Road Home. The warrant and an inventory of the items found during that search has been sealed by the Warren County court.

Edwards is being held in the Warren County Jail.

Stacy said several others have been interviewed in connection with the alleged kidnapping and assault.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 ye ars and I have never seen something like that,” Stacy said.