AUSTINBURG, Ohio — Following a string of break-ins at UPS facilities across the East Coast, five suspects were arrested in Austinburg early Sunday morning.
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According to the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office, the arrests came following a break-in at the UPS facility in Austinburg Township after deputies were dispatched to the facility at 2:18 a.m. for an alarm activation. Deputies and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers observed a black four-door sedan northbound on State Route 45 traveling at a high rate of speed while en route to the facility. The vehicle proceeded to enter Interstate 90 westbound and a broken window on an overhead bay door was observed when officers and deputies arrived on the scene.
The break-in marked the second at the UPS facility in the last two weeks. The investigation into the previous incident revealed that the UPS facility in Highland Heights was also broken into on the same day and that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was tracking a group of individuals, from the Philadelphia, Pa. area, in connection with these break-ins.
The group was believed to have stolen more than $3.5 million in property.
Following the second break-in, a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) was issued to surrounding areas and a number of Lake County law enforcement agencies were contacted to assist in looking for the black vehicle. The Willoughby Hills Police Department stopped the suspect vehicle on I-90 westbound as it was traveling at approximately 120 miles per hour.
Five individuals were found in the vehicle, including four adult males and one juvenile male who were in possession of multiple stolen electronics. The suspects were subsequently arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail and booked on charges of Receiving Stolen Property, while the juvenile suspect was transported to the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center.
An investigation remains ongoing.
