Shoplifter flees mall security, rams police car, causes store evacuation
WESTLAKE, Ohio July 23 2019 — A 27-year-old man is accused of stealing from the Apple Store at Crocker Park, ramming his car into a police cruiser and hiding from officers in Dick’s Sporting Goods.
The incident happened about 8 p.m. Friday at the popular outdoor shopping mall on Crocker Road just south of Interstate 90.
Crocker Park security called police and said two people were stealing from the Apple Store and ran into the Union Street parking garage, police said.
When security caught up to them, they pleaded for security not to call police because one man has outstanding warrants, police said.
Security called police and one of the men, who are brothers, got into a white Chevy Impala and drove out of the garage. The security guard told the dispatcher that one brother ditched the other, according to the 911 call.
An officer found the car at a dead end-street near Dick’s Sporting Goods. The man backed into the police cruiser several times before he hopped out of the car and hid behind some dumpsters nearby, police said.
He walked into Dick’s Sporting Goods, changed his shirt and hid in the store.
Officers evacuated the store and found him hiding in a stairwell.
He was taken to a local hospital for an undisclosed medical issue.
The other man was identified and released on scene.
