best of the blotter: creepy dudes and turkeys

SUSPICION, EDGEFIELD ROAD: A woman asked for special attention to her home April 20 after finding muddy handprints on the back door. She canceled the request after finding out the prints came from her neighbor’s 3-year-old grandson.

PETTY THEFT, BIDDULPH ROAD: A Cleveland man was charged with petty theft after he tried to steal four lobster tails at Giant Eagle April 15.
An alert clerk noticed the man leave the store. When he asked the man about the lobster tails, the man said that he put them back. Then he admitted he had them inside his jacket. Total value is $65.

Medina Police are looking for a Fugitive Turkey
An Old Farm Trail resident told Medina Police that damage had been done to his garage door by at 8:18 p.m. April 18.
Who was the vandal? Neighborhood kids? An agitated enemy? No, it was a bird. A turkey allegedly caused damage to the door, and the resident wanted to make a report.


Strongsville

Two women reported a suspicious man about noon on April 8.
A woman on Regency Drive was pulling out of her driveway when she was approached by a man in his mid-20s, who said he was fundraising.
When she rolled up her car window, he took off running.
Another woman who was jogging in the area told police the man started running with her, asking her to go on a date.
He didn't make any threats, but she was "creeped out" because he was too persistent.
She went to a relative's house and pounded on the door, a report said.
The man was spotted running on Shenandoah Ridge, where he told police he was trying to solicit money for a business he wanted to start.
He wasn't sure what type of business.
He said he then saw the woman jogging and wanted to get a date, so he began running with her.
Police advised him on soliciting laws and on how to get a date without creeping out the women.

Suspicious Man Has Car Full of Stuffed Animals

A dad was suspicious of a man who offered his son a stuffed animal April 17.
A report said the incident took place about 12:45 p.m. at the Marathon station on Royalton Road when a man in his 60s asked a man if his son wanted a stuffed animal.
The man saw that the back seat of the driver's car was filled with stuffed animals.
Officers couldn't find the man in the area, but gave a description of the car and driver to SouthPark Mall security officers.

You Don't Say
A passerby on Big Creek Parkway April 15 felt it was suspicious that two people were sitting on a bench, smoking a pipe, a report said.

What's Shaking?
A caller reported about 20 high school students in the parking lot outside SouthPark Mall just after midnight April 21, saying it looked like they were taping a Harlem Shuffle video.
A report said police checked the lot "and no one is shaking anything."

LAWN BATTLE, BRIAR BUSH LANE: An officer advised a pair of rival lawn care company employees who got into an argument at about 11:35 a.m. April 10.
One of the employees said he was just trying to kid around but that it went too far and then snowballed from there. Neither wanted to press charges in the matter.

STRANGE OCCURRENCES, WILSON MILLS ROAD: A woman told police on April 7 she hears outside her home’s window the sounds of a man whistling. The whistling, she said, takes place usually on weekends. Further, she noted, the whistler usually whistles the same song. 


Another Scam, But No Victim
A Fawn Meadow Trail woman told police she got a threatening call April 9 from someone claiming to be an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The man said he had a warrant for her arrest.
The DEA late last year warned about a scam in which people claiming to be DEA agents tell people they have illegally purchased drugs online.
They try to get the victims to pay a fine and if they don't, threaten to arrest them or search their property.

Turkey burglars
Westlake Police are looking for the thief (or thieves) who broke into a home on Hollywood Drive on Feb. 16 and stole jewelry and two frozen turkeys.
Neighbors told police that they saw an unfamiliar red Ford F-150 pickup truck in the driveway that afternoon.
Residents said the man and a woman who were in that truck went up to two homes in the neighborhood. At different times, they claimed to be looking for old Army buddies or a sister, police said.

Meat craving thieves crawled through the first floor window: On Feb. 28 at around 7:27 a.m., it was reported that a robbery had occurred at Smitty's Market, on Ira Avenue, between 4 p.m. – 9:08 a.m. They reported that this low-down scoundrel forced open a first floor window of the closed business and that he had crawled in and stole a bunch of meat, pecans and other stuff. The cops are on the lookout for this hungry rascal and if you know something say something and call Crime Stoppers to get this greedy dog off the streets.