Crime & Safety

Alert Police Officer Snags Burglary Suspect

A Solon police officer arrested a suspected burglar in Solon hours after a Valley Forge Drive home was burglarized.

An alert Solon police officer arrested a man in Solon hours after police say he burglarized a home on Valley Forge Drive on Monday.

Arrested and charged was John T. Stok, 27, of Wickliffe. Stok was charged with burglary, possessing criminal tools and receiving stolen properties. Burglary and possessing criminal tools are both felony charges.

According to Solon Police, a woman was coming downstairs after a shower on Monday morning only to find a man standing in her foyer.

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She asked the man what he was doing in her home, and he said he was there to visit her son, who was sleeping on the couch. She woke her son up, who said he did not know the man, according to the police report.

The man then ran down the basement steps, where he climbed out of a window and disappeared.

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A short time later, Solon Officer Courtney Perkins arrested Stok, who fit the suspects description, outside Office Max in Solon.

Stok had a number of items in his car that police say were stolen, and also was covered in cobwebs, which police believe came from the basement window he climbed through, according to the police report.

Police also said Stok had a lockpicking kit, and that he is suspected in other thefts in the area. Police are investigating.


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