Strongsville Police Blotter: Former Meth Lab is Site of Burglary

A former meth lab on White Bark Drive was burglarized by the people who used to live there, according to a report.

Police were called to the house March 15  after the former residents, who were evicted when the house went into foreclosure, allegedly broke in to take their belongings. 

Police raided the house in 2008 after getting a tip that the homeowner was making methamphetamine in the basement.

The lab was removed and the man, a pharmacist, was charged.

The person now overseeing the property told police he has offered to meet the family at the house and let them in to get the belongings they left behind, but they have repeatedly broken in instead. This time, it appears they got in through the garage, the report said.

In other news:

• A Cherry Tree Drive resident reported a loud argument in another apartment about 2:25 a.m. March 17, saying she could hear a woman screaming.  

When police arrived, they heard the screams, too, but "it was by no means a domestic; they were getting along just fine," a report said. The officer did not make contact with the tenants.

• A woman visiting a Pearl Road salon March 16 told police someone in the room next door put a camera phone over the top of the wall and filmed her as she tanned.

• A woman followed a city service truck after she said the occupants threw a newspaper out the window March 14. A report said the woman was hysterical about the incident and followed the truck along Pearl Road until she could confront them.

Police told the woman to call the police rather than confront wrongdoers. The city workers all denied throwing anything out the window.

• A Gate Post Road resident was concerned after seeing a small child and dog in the road March 14. Two women came and picked up the pair.

Police contacted the mother, who said her 2-year-old wandered off and she found him and brought him home. 

• Smoke pouring from an apartment took police to Whitney Road shortly before midnight March 15. An officer gained access and found no one inside the unit. There was also no fire, but plenty of smoke, which was coming from a pot that had been left on the stove. Police left a voice mail on the tenant's cell phone.

• A Park Lane Drive resident asked police to check the area after seeing two men walking across lawns about 8 p.m. March 15. One rang his doorbell, but he did not answer. 

Police said the men were collecting signatures for a petition.

• A woman reported finding between five and 12 needles on the sidewalk near the Strongsville Cafe at Pearl Road and Westwood Drive March 17, plus others near the railroad sign. Police found one needle by the railroad tracks, but none in the other locations.

• Two hubcaps were stolen off a car parked at Marc's, 16224 Pearl Rd., between 4 and 4:30 p.m. March 12.

• Three men were apprehended for trespassing after they were caught in a barn on Albion Road about 4 p.m. March 17. A neighbor reported seeing the three go into the barn and called the owner, who no longer lives there and is selling the property.

Two of the men would not come out of the barn until police brought in a canine. The men -- two from Cleveland and one from Middleburg Heights -- were all arrested.