best of the blotter: calculators, pizza, and pregnant men

Employees at Ann Taylor at SouthPark Mall called security Oct. 16 when a man came into the store claiming to be pregnant with triplets.
A report said the man was wearing earrings and carrying a pink backpack and black purse.
Employees called security, who asked the man to leave, then escorted him out.

Not So Suspicious
A Greenbrier Drive resident reported receiving a package in the mail containing a threatening note and a piece of jewelry.
Police found no threatening note and a pretty good explanation for the package -- the resident's daughter had ordered a bracelet.

Time to start a fire
On Oct. 16, a pair of teenage girls decided it was time to round up several election yard signs and set them on fire in the 2000 block of 3^rd Street. They probably would’ve gotten away with the junior caper, but one of the girls decided her front yard was the best place to incinerate the signs. Both were cited for criminal mischief and released.

PETTY THEFT, BIDDULPH ROAD: A Cleveland man, 44, was arrested for petty theft at Giant Eagle Oct. 18. He tried to hide three cans of beer, two corned beef briskets, one pumpkin roll and four containers of pickling spices in a bag and in his jacket. The total value of the merchandise is $77.
He told the arresting officers he was trying to steal some dinner and “beer goes with corned beef.”


NOISE DISTURBANCE, ROYALTON ROAD: The excessive sounds of sawing or a dog wheezing in and adjacent apartment prompted a resident to call police at approximately 8 p.m. Oct. 27. The man also said his neighbor’s TV was too loud.
Officers went to the apartment and found the noise was actually the neighbor snoring. The caller was advised there’s nothing he could do.

MISCHIEF, PEARL ROAD: A man has had 53 political signs stolen from his yard and raw meat thrown into his yard during the last few weeks, and he told police at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 that someone had stuffed rocks into the exhaust pipe on his car.
The man said he would be installing video cameras.

SUSPICIOUS CONDITION, DETROIT ROAD: A woman said someone had placed a box on her car and she was concerned about what was in it. Baby shoes were found in the box on Nov. 3.

COMPLAINT, LAKE AVENUE: A man called police to say that it was suspicious that a passing driver said “trick-or-treat” at him Nov. 4.

Welfare Check
Passersby asked police to check on a man with long curly hair and a backpack walking on Webster Road about 10 a.m. Nov. 9 after he fell to a sitting position.
An officer took the man to Albion Road, where he planned to walk home. He just likes to walk around, a report said.

Robbery
A man told Shaker Heights police in the early morning hours of Nov. 10 that while babysitting a young child on Sydenham Road, he was the victim of a home invasion in which he was robbed of $280 in cash, his cell phone and vehicle. Two cordless phones were also taken from the home.
He later recanted, telling police he had in fact arranged for multiple female “escorts” to visit the home. The women physically assaulted him before robbing him and fleeing in his vehicle, he said. Police have yet to confirm his story.
The child was not reported injured during the incident.

FELONY SHOPLIFTING, SOUTHPARK CENTER: Office Max called police after someone stole $1,000 worth of Texas Instruments calculators at approximately12:30 p.m. Nov. 13. The store has the suspect on video, and the case is still under investigation. 

WELFARE CHECK, BOSTON ROAD: Strongsville police dispatchers received a glowing 9-1-1 call at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 12 from a 4-year-old girl, who called just to say she "loved policemen and wanted to give one a hug."
When asked where her parents were, the child said her mother was at work and then hung up. Officers called back twice and got a voicemail message. Officers checked the home and the girl was with her father.
No word on if the caller got to give the officer a hug.

Pizza frustrations — Mentor Police learned Friday that a trashed hotel room was the result of a frustrated man who could not get any pizza.
Daniel DiFranco of Willoughby is accused of causing more than $5,000 worth of damage to a room at America's Best Value Hotel. Mentor Police Lt. Ken Zbiegien said two or three inches of standing water was in the room, along with a disassembled bed and holes in the wall.