Police reports are samples of blotter items and not intended to be all-inclusive.
Macedonia
Theft
Woman matched on .com dating site loses cash to the wrong man: A woman called the police on December 23, to report she had given about $200,000 to a man using a fake name. The woman told police she had voluntarily wired cash to a man she had been talking to via a dating website since October. The pair had not met face-to-face. The woman discovered the man, who claimed to be 65, and from Indiana, after he stopped talking to her for three days, according to the report. The woman contacted the man whose name was being used. He claimed his identity had been stolen. Police are investigating.
Aggravated menacing/Improperly handling firearm in motor vehicle
Man waves gun and “goodbye” to freedom on Route 8: A man was arrested the day after Christmas just before 10 a.m. after he allegedly waved a loaded handgun at another driver during a road rage incident along the northbound section of Route 8. Macedonia Police were called by a driver who said another man driving a white Subaru Crosstrek had brandished a gun at him. Police found the Subaru driver and made a traffic stop near Macedonia Commons. The driver was handcuffed and read his rights, according to police. The man admitted he had a gun inside the vehicle. Officers found a 9mm firearm with one round in the chamber and 15 in the magazine, on the dash of the vehicle, according to the report. The gun was in a holster and easily accessible to the driver, according to police. The Subaru driver claimed a man in a black Chrysler driving behind him had flashed his headlights at him and waved his arms. The man told police he believed the driver had something dark in his hand. The man claimed the Chrysler driver switched lanes and began to pass the Subaru. The Subaru driver told police he pulled his gun from a waist holster and showed it to the Chrysler driver, so he would leave the man alone, according to the report. However, police refuted the Subaru driver’s claim in the report. The “holster was a leather/faux leather holster which had belt loops on either end. The holster did not have any type of paddle system that would allow it to be worn without a belt,” police wrote. “[The driver], being a large man, would not be able to keep this type of holster inside his waistband without it falling out.” According to the report, the man would also not be able to draw his weapon from this type of holster because it would not have any type of retention. The man was arrested and charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fourth degree felony. The man was also charged by Stow Police with aggravated menacing, a first degree felony. Police found the other driver did have a tan colored gun, in a holster, in a bag, in the rear passenger floorboard of the car. The other driver claimed the gun had not been taken out of the bag and that the dark object in his hand had been a cell phone to record the incident, police said. The driver of the Chrysler was not charged.
Aggravated menacing/Improperly handling firearm
Credit card used to purchase furniture: A woman told police on December 11, that she received an alert from her credit card company stating the card had been used at a Logan Ohio furniture store. The woman told police she immediately contacted the store. An employee advised her that the subjects were still on the scene and used an actual card with their name on it, according to the report. The store employee contacted the Hocking County Sheriff’s Office which sent deputies to investigate. A deputy from the department told the Macedonia woman to file a report with her local police department, according to the report. There were no arrests. Police did not list how much, if any, was spent on the card in Logan.
Menacing
Gas service call explodes with threats of violence: A gas company employee told police a man in a gold SUV approached him on December 2, as he walked back to his truck after completing a transmission pipeline service call at a Shepard Road property. The man was holding a large white dog by the collar and told the employee “he better never see his face on his property again or else [the employee] will have serious problems,” according to the police report. As the employee began to leave the property in his vehicle, a second male in a black SUV sped up from behind him and pulled up on the side of his vehicle, and attempted to run him off the road, according to police. The man drove in front of the employee and tapped his brakes in an attempt to get him to stop. The employee was able to speed around the male in the black SUV and onto Broadway Avenue. The employee did not want to pursue menacing charges.
