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Key fobs, garage door openers mysteriously stop working in North Olmsted neighborhood

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NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — Electronic car key fobs and garage door openers have mysteriously stopped working in a North Olmsted neighborhood; city officials and First Energy crews are working to figure out what’s going on.

People living there said the devices quit working weeks ago, and they still don’t know why. Visitors are also having issues when they come into the neighborhood.

"There are brand new cars that have keyless entry, so some folks can't get into their cars period,” said Chris Glassburn with the North Olmsted City Council.

“Just makes you curious as to what’s causing this, and do we have to worry…is this frequency harmful to our health?” said North Olmsted resident Cory Branchick.

First Energy was out in the neighborhood Thursday with sophisticated equipment to try to pinpoint the source of the problem. If that doesn’t work, the plan is to go door-to-door to try to figure it out.

Councilman Glassburn said if someone is doing this intentionally, it is a crime. Some criminals do use jamming equipment to try to disable alarms before breaking in, but Glassburn doesn’t think that’s the case here.