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Theft of cycles leads police to crack stolen-vehicle ring
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Angela D. Chatman
Plain Dealer Reporter
Walton Hills- The theft of three off-road motorcycles in this village has led to the breakup of a two-year-old ring that stole vehicles and heavy equipment in at least five Northeast Ohio counties.

A task force led by the Walton Hills Police Department arrested two young men early Wednesday in Medina County and identified two more who are believed to have operated the ring with them, said Walton Hills Police Chief Gary Rhines.

The task force said the men are Christopher Johnson, 19; Gregory Martin, 21; Morris Vowell Jr., 18; and Timothy Davis, 19. All live in Cleveland.

   
The task force turned up the ring while investigating the theft of the motorcycles in Walton Hills in the early hours of July 13. The probe took the task force to the Slavic Village home of one of the men.

The Medina County Sheriff's Office arrested Johnson and Martin after a chase that began in Granger Township and ended in North Royalton. There, the stolen van they were driving went off the road when they turned off the headlights during their flight, Rhines said.


The two men were found pinned in the van by a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that had been stolen from a home in Granger Township, Rhines said.

Johnson and Martin were treated for minor injuries at MetroHealth Medical Center.

The Medina County Sheriff's Office said the two men, and Vowell and Davis, were responsible for the theft of an all-terrain vehicle trailer, three Polaris all-terrain vehicles and a Dodge pickup truck.

Police are linking two reports of attempted auto theft and five incidents of residential burglary and breaking and entering to the four men.

Johnson and Vowell are being held in Medina County Jail. Martin, who was released pending further investigation, is expected to turn himself in, Rhines said. The task force considers Davis a fugitive. Charges have not been filed in the case.

Friday night, Walton Hills police displayed vehicles and items they said the ring had stolen, including the off-road motorcycles, tractors, a generator and 12 Andersen windows packed in the back of a trailer.

The task force accused the men of stealing and selling everything, from the vehicles to helmets, gloves, uniforms and even weed cutters. Officials have widened the investigation and expect to charge others with receiving stolen property.

Kyle Schroeder, 9, was all smiles Friday night when his parents showed him his two off-road racing motorcycles that had been recovered. His two bikes and his father's cycle, which also was stolen, were worth more than $12,000.

The task force included the Cleveland, Independence, Valley View, Oakwood, North Royalton and Parma police departments; the South East Area Law Enforcement Narcotics Unit; the Medina County Sheriff's Office; and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

The two men were found pinned in the van by a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle that had been stolen from a home in Granger Township, Rhines said.

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