MENTOR, Ohio — A Lakeshore Boulevard Speedway gas station is rebuilding after a stolen vehicle crashed into the front of it early Wednesday morning in an attempt to steal an ATM.
Mentor Police Detective Lieutenant Rich Slovenkay told me it happened just before 4 a.m.
"We had a call that the store was broken into. It was actually open for business, but a minivan rammed the door several times, the door in the wall next to it in order to gain entry and to knock the ATM off of its mount that was mounted just inside those doors at the Speedway gas station," Slovenkay said.
Linda Nugent is a cashier and stocker at the Discount Tobacco & Beverage across the street from the Speedway. She said this type of thing is abnormal for this side of town.
Nugent said they've had petty theft instances in the store, but nothing like this.
"I saw the whole left side of the building was kind of tapered off and the construction trucks and everything were already there. I heard about it around about 4:20 this morning when my son-in-law sent a message over to the family saying that he saw the police cars all over the place," Nugent said. "That is not a normal day here. This is usually a very safe neighborhood."
There was one customer and one employee inside the gas station at the time of the incident, according to Slovenkay. No one was hurt.
Slovenkay said four men were involved.
The group was unsuccessful in stealing the ATM.
"I wouldn't think too many people would be successful trying to do that these days," Nugent said.
The vehicle used to ram the building was reported stolen on Tuesday, Mentor Police told us. It has been recovered, and officials are collecting DNA evidence.
There was a second vehicle involved, though, that was allegedly used as the runaway car.
"They were not able to get the ATM loaded up into a second car that they had there in the same parking lot," Slovenkay added.
The getaway car is suspected to be stolen as it didn't have a license plate attached. It's a newer model, gray Dodge Ram pickup truck with four doors.
Mentor Police attempted to catch the would be thieves, but were unable to.
"One of our officers was en route westbound. He saw the truck enter the freeway at a high rate of speed. He gave chase along with some Willoughby officers in a neighboring city. They chased the vehicle in towards Cleveland, and then the sergeant who was on scene at the gas station made the decision to call the chase off after a certain amount of time," Slovenkay stated.
Slovenkay said the suspects wore hoods pulled tight around their faces, so witnesses were unable to provide a clear description.
"We're really going to rely on some DNA evidence that we'll collect out of the vehicle that was left at the scene to try to identify any of these four suspects that committed this crime," Slovenkay added.
As of Wednesday night, the culprits have not been identified.
"That is a little concerning, but hopefully they won't return to the area and try to rob somebody else. I mean, hopefully they learn their lesson," Nugent said. "It is a little concerning that they're still out there, but we just got to keep our eyes open and just be more vigilant in what we're doing."
Slovenkay told me that if they find who did this, those individuals are looking at potential felony charges of aggravated robbery, breaking and entering, and attempted grand theft.
There is surveillance video that captured the crime, but Mentor PD said it had yet to receive it from the gas station's owner, 7-Eleven, as of Wednesday.
I emailed 7-Eleven for a copy of the surveillance and for more information regarding the incident, but I haven't heard back.
Mentor PD plans to release the surveillance once it's received.
If you have any information, please call Mentor Police at 440-255-1234.
