Lorain Police have arrested six juveniles and three men for their suspected involvement in a theft ring of Kia and Hyundai vehicles after the department investigated about 50 incidents of thefts or attempted thefts between May 6 and June 15.
The lead investigator into the thefts was able to obtain names of persons of interest “through investigative means,” Lorain Police stated in a news release. That detective forwarded those names to patrol officers and members of the Patrol Impact Team.
On June 9, patrol and PIT members responded to a vehicle theft complaint, which led them to track down several suspects at a residence in the 2300 block of East 37th Street, where a stolen Hyundai was seen in the driveway, police said. A search of the residence led to the arrests of one man and three juveniles in connection with the ongoing vehicle thefts.
A week later on June 15, officers responded to an attempted vehicle theft call and suspicious persons at an address on Lorain’s east side, officials said in the release. On arrival, officers found a stolen vehicle still running in a nearby alley.
While searching the area, officers found another vehicle with a broken window nearby. Inside that vehicle, two men were found hiding from police and were taken into custody. A third male who was circling the area in a different vehicle was also taken into custody. Ultimately, two men and two juveniles were arrested in connection with this incident.
In total, nine arrests have been made of people suspected of being involved in a motor vehicle theft ring plaguing the City of Lorain, police said. Many of the individuals arrested are well-known to the police department and are actively on probation due to prior convictions or are currently facing unrelated criminal charges.
In the news release, Lorain Police urged prosecutors and judges to hold these suspects accountable for their alleged criminal actions and urged state lawmakers to pass meaningful criminal justice reforms that hold lawbreakers, especially juvenile offenders, accountable for their crimes.
“What we are currently doing is not working and innocent citizens are repeatedly being victimized by these criminals,” Lorain Police Chief Jim McCann said in the news release.
Those arrested include two 13-year-old boys, a 14-year-old boy, two 16-year-old boys, a 17-year-old boy, an 18-year-old man, and two 19-year-old men, the news release shows. They are facing charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle, attempted grand theft of a motor vehicle, obstructing official business, criminal damage, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of criminal tools, receiving stolen property, and various charges for complicity in other crimes.
View our report from last week showing how stolen Kias and Hyundais are being increasingly linked to other crimes in Cleveland:
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