Best of the Blotter

Boxer Brief Bandit & Windshield Destroyer: Best of the Blotter

Here are some of the most bizarre police reports from departments across the region

Here are this week's weirdest police calls, reports and charges. All information was provided by police reports from departments in Patch communities. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction. Eventful day in the Falls — Cuyahoga Falls Police responded to two bizarre calls on July 12. First, a Discount Drug Mart security guard saw a man place several items in his bag and walk out of the store. The guard stopped him and found that the man tried to take undershirts, boxer briefs, socks and several groceries. Police cited him for theft. That night, a woman told police she saw a man masturbating in the PetSmart parking lot. She got his license plate number, but he had driven off by the time police arrived. …

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Best of the Blotter

Pepper Spray & a Flirtatious Suspect: Best of the Blotter

The most bizarre police reports from departments throughout Northeast Ohio.

Here are some of this week's weird calls and charges from Northeast Ohio. All information was provided by police reports from departments in Patch communities. Sprayed cab customer: An intoxicated Brecksville man refused to pay his cab driver, and got pepper sprayed for it. The driver told police the man failed to pay his bill on May 17 and had threatened him twice. The driver sprayed the man once in the car and again when the man exited the taxi and kicked it. The man kept making threats once police arrived. He was eventually charged with menacing, petty theft and disorderly conduct by intoxication. Police said he fell asleep at the station. Flirtatious urination: Westlake Police arrested a Lorain woman earlier this month — after she …

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Men Arrested in Bridge Bombing Plot Have Ties to Lakewood, Occupy Cleveland

Two of three men charged with conspiring to blow up a bridge in Brecksville have connections to Lakewood.

At least two of three men accused of conspiring to blow up a bridge in Brecksville have ties to Lakewood. Brandon L. Baxter, 20, and Anthony Hayne, 35, — who were arrested along with Douglas L. Wright, 26 — have been known to live in Lakewood. In all, FBI has arrested five people who are accused of conspiring to use explosives on a bridge in Brecksville in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. On Friday, Baxter celebrated his 20th birthday at the Root Café on Detroit Avenue. He was quiet. He ordered cookies. Julie Hutchison, the co-owner of the Root, said she knew Baxter from the Occupy Cleveland protests last summer. She remembers him as a “punk-rock kid,” who “kept to himself.” She said he was originally from Lakewood, but had been living …

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