LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WJW)– A security camera was rolling last Wednesday morning when a man wearing a mask walked up a driveway on Erie Cliff Drive in Lakewood.
While the homeowner was unloading her groceries, the suspect jumped into her 2013 Audi Q7, backed out and drove away, following a suspected accomplice driving a dark sedan. The victim’s husband called 911.
“Someone just stole my truck out of my driveway,” he told the dispatcher. When the dispatcher asked if they saw the suspect, the man responded, “They were wearing masks, my wife said.”
“Brazen to do this in the middle of the day. It’s not something we see on a regular basis where somebody in the middle of the day commits a crime like this,” Lakewood Police Lt. Frank Eschweiler told FOX 8.
A short time after the victim’s husband called 911, a Lakewood police officer spotted the stolen SUV on Lake Avenue and started to pursue it. But when the thief realized the police officer was behind him, he accelerated to dangerously high speeds. A police supervisor decided to terminate the chase and the suspect got away.
“Just because that time of day, there’s so much traffic, so many pedestrian traffic out. And that was the day after the snow storms so there were wet and slick roads,” said Lt. Eschweiler.
Investigators said it appears the suspect and his accomplice were prowling looking for a high-end car or SUV to steal, and then followed the woman home after she was done with her shopping. The woman told police she had her keys with her so investigators suspect the thief started the SUV by using the valet key in the glove compartment.
Police said they are alarmed by the bold actions of the thieves and are concerned that they will hurt or kill someone if they are not stopped.
“It’s such a dangerous crime. And obviously, they don’t have any respect for anybody else’s human life to do this in the middle of the day, drive the way they did like that. You they obviously don’t care about hurting anyone else,” said Lt. Eschweiler.
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