Missing Akron bridge found in Medina County; suspect arrested

For anyone wondering about the status of Akron’s missing bridge, you can now get over it.

As it turns out, it was a bridge not too far, just one county over.

Investigators discovered the missing 58-foot bridge partially disassembled on property in Sharon Township in Medina County. Police have arrested a man and charged him with felony theft in the case, Akron police said Monday.

The bridge, taken down in 2003-04 as part of a wetland restoration project, had been stored on Middlebury Run Park property off Seiberling Street with plans for it to be reused for a Battered Women’s Shelter project.

But the city found on Nov. 3 someone took the bridge’s deck boards and then came back by Nov. 11 and took the metal frame — which is 58 feet long, 10 feet wide and has 6-feet high sides.

Investigators acted on tips and got a search warrant to search the Medina County property on Friday, where they found the bridge, police said.

David Bramley, 63, of Burdett Road in Wadsworth, was charged with felony theft, according to Akron police and court records.

Detectives said they found that Bramley, who had worked in the Akron area, paid a trucking company for crane service. The company picked up the bridge and took it to Medina County, Akron

police said. Bramley is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Akron Municipal Court.

The bridge is expected to be shipped back to Akron over the span of upcoming days, police said.

Beacon Journal reporter Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @Jimmackinnonabj on Twitter or www.facebook.com/jimmackinnonabj.