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Video shows forklift suspending car 20 feet in air to stop theft suspect at Ohio car lot-InfoExpress

Auto workers in Ohio were caught on camera taking a creative approach to stop a thief trying to make away with a car.

Police responded to Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron, Ohio last month after a 911 call came in reporting an attempted theft. Bodycam footage shows their arrival on the scene, where they were met with a car perched atop a forklift arm hanging about 20 feet in the air.

According to the employees, theft and break-ins are common issues at the auto yard, something they're "sick and tired of," they told police. So when they realized a man had broken into one of the vehicles in the junkyard, they were less than impressed.

Watch the video below:

To make matters worse, the employees told police they believed the same perpetrator had broken into other cars on their lot two times before, according to local news station Cleveland 19 News. Fed up with the repeat offender, the employees took matters into their own hands upon realizing the man was still sitting inside the car he had broken into.

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A quick-thinking solution

Using a forklift already on the property, the employees lifted the car in the air, suspending the vehicle and the would-be thief roughly 20 feet above the ground. It was there the man stayed suspended until police arrived to arrest him, at which point both authorities and the workers chuckled at the absurdity of the incident.

“We’re having a lot of trouble here with people stealing stuff and everything and we got a guy that’s passed out or crashed in one of our vehicles in our yard and I got the vehicle picked up with the loader and he’s probably 20 feet in the air now and I refuse to drop this thing to let him out and run,” one employee told police. “I mean, we’ve just had so much (sic) problems here with theft and catalytic converters and just fires and everything.”

After being arrested for criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools, the 26-year-old suspect admitted to police that he had brought a Sawzall cutting tool, Sawzall blades and several other hand tools in order to procure copper from the junkyard's cars.

“He broke into a car at the junkyard and before he could get out, he’s done it before, they got, like, the forklift and they had him, like, I’m not kidding, like, 20 feet off the ground," one officer can be heard telling his colleagues after returning to the station. "So, when we got there, he went right into custody."

Again, the officers, along with the 911 operator who originally fielded the call, couldn't help but laugh at the quick thinking of the Arlington Auto Wrecking employees. According to News 19, the 911 dispatcher who originally fielded the call seemed to take humor from the situation, telling the employees, "Wonderful, that is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard,” before telling them police were on the way.

The suspect already had a warrant out for his arrest thanks to a standing disorderly conduct charge and will appear in court on the criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools charges on October 27.

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