Ohio car thief thwarted by forklift operator, hoisted 20 feet in the air until cops arrive

An aspiring thief got a big surprise when workers at an Ohio auto shop intervened to thwart him by using a forklift to hoist the vehicle that he was in high into the air until police arrived on the scene.

The incident went down at Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron where the alleged repeat offender was spotted by employees, with one of them uniquely using the forklift to thwart the crime by suspending the suspect 20 feet above the ground until the cops hauled him off to jail.

Akron Police officers arrested the perp who was identified as 26-year-old Alexander Funk with the pinch being captured on police bodycam video with the black SUV being held aloft and lowered when they showed up.

(Video: YouTube/12 News)

“So, he’s still in the car about 20 feet in the air in the loader,” an employee explained to an amused 911 operator, according to Cleveland’s 19 News.

“Wonderful, that is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard,” the laughing operator responded. “We, we will get somebody out to you.”

Workers told police that they were “sick and tired” of thieves breaking into the shop and stealing so when they spotted Funk who they said was stealing from them for the third time they weren’t about to let him make a clean getaway.

“I was putting the car in the shop, and he was in the backseat, and we called the police on him,” one employee told police. “We were waiting for you guys to get here, and he shoved one of my guys out of the way and took off running and you guys were looking for him over there across the street for about an hour. That’s the third time now, it’s the same guy.”

“We’re having a lot of trouble here with people stealing stuff and everything and we got a guy that’s passed out or crashed in one of our vehicles in our yard and I got the vehicle picked up with the loader and he’s probably 20 feet in the air now and I refuse to drop this thing to let him out and run,” said an employee of Arlington Auto Wrecking.

The third time was definitely not the charm for Funk who was arrested for criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools. Police said that the suspect was wearing a backpack containing a Sazwell cutting tool, blades, and other hand tools.

“What’s your name, man?” Asked one of the officers, to which Funk who was in handcuffs responded, “None of your business, bro.”

“I mean we’ve just had so much problems here with theft and catalytic converters and just fires and everything,” the employee said.

“Alright man well here’s the deal this lot is, there’s been a serious amount of break-ins and converters cut off and you got a Sawzall and you’re in a private area of the business not open to the public,” a police officer asked Funk. “So, what do you got the Sawzall for?”

“Uh copper to be honest brother, not gonna lie,” the suspect told the officer.

“He broke into a car at the uh junkyard and before he could get out, he’s done it before, they got like the forklift and they had him like I’m not kidding like 20 feet off the ground, so when we got there, he went right into custody,” one of the cops told fellow officers upon returning to the police station, 19 News reported.

Chris Donaldson

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