Police save man from cryptocurrency scam: Westlake Police Blotter

WESTLAKE, Ohio –

Police foil scam

A convenience store owner called police detectives at 1:30 p.m. on April 4 to report concerns about an older man depositing large sums of money into a cryptocurrency ATM in the store.

The store owner said the man was receiving instructions from someone on his cell phone, and the store owner correctly assumed the man was being scammed.

Officers arrived in time to stop the cryptocurrency transaction before it was finalized and funds passed to the perpetrators. The almost-victim had received a pop-up message on his home computer indicating that his system had been compromised. The scammers scared the man by falsely claiming that criminals used his PC to trade in child pornography and that he would be implicated if he did not pay for cleanup of the machine.

The Westlake Police Department warns residents to be cautious of scammers contacting them through pop-up messages, emails, texts, or phone calls demanding payment in gift cards, crypto currency, or bank cash withdrawals.

Felony failure to comply: I-90

A vehicle containing a driver and one passenger fled from police at about 9 a.m. on April 4 on I-90 after initially coming to a stop.

Officers called off a short pursuit for safety reasons. Less than an hour later, the passenger, who was dropped off in Cleveland, called the Westlake Police Department and reported the identity of the driver who fled. The driver was wanted on warrants out of Strongsville and Trumbull County.

Officers attempted to arrest the suspect at work, but he skipped work. The 30-year-old Olmsted Township man learned that the police were searching for him and turned himself in the same day.

He was charged with felony failure to comply and driving under suspension.

Arrested on warrants: Columbia Road

At 4 a.m. on April 5, officers stopped a vehicle on Columbia Road at Detroit Road after learning that the registered owner of the car was wanted by Cleveland police for not showing up for a prior traffic offense.

The 38-year-old Cleveland resident was arrested and turned over to Cleveland officers.

The passenger, a 39-year-old Cleveland woman, was also wanted on warrants out of Parma and North Olmsted for not appearing for traffic offenses. She was arrested and turned over to North Olmsted police.

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