06 November 2023 , 16:07
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There's few would-be car thieves who would think they would end up 20 feet off the ground awaiting arrest by the police – but a man who is said to have tried it on at a scrapyard got exactly that nasty shock.
Alexander Funk seemed to think that allegedly attempting to steal an SUV from the business' yard in Ohio was an easy hit, but was quickly apprehended by a nimble forklift truck operator who managed to hold the suspect inside his target. And the bizarre scene was caught on the bodycam of a cop who came to arrest him.
It wasn't the first time Funk, 26, had targeted Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron, according to staff, and this time the employees at the yard were determined not to let him escape. The forklift operator was told about the attempted theft by his co-workers and he raced to the scene across the junkyard.
The SUV was suspended 20ft in the air by the forklift driver (Alkron Police Department)In a feat of incredible skill, the driver balanced the SUV on his vehicle's forks and hoisted it 20 feet into the air, where the unlucky suspected criminal was left waiting for police officers. Akron police bodycam video then captured the unlikely scene after officers arrived at the scrapyard.
According to the Daily Mail, one of the officers asks Funk: "What's your name, man?' And he replies: "None of your business, bro'." The suspect told police he was running from someone. An officer then spoke with employees at the business.
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Alexander Funk was arrested at the scene by cops (Alkron Police Department)The man who helped perform the delicate manoeuvre on the loader explained: "This car's bouncing, getting ready to flip off the forklift. So, he's still in the car about 20 feet in the air in the loader."
Another worker explained to Cleveland19: "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."
Workers at the scrapyard were bemused by the incident (Alkron Police Department)
The car thief was foiled (Alkron Police Department)"I mean we've just had so much problems here with theft and catalytic converters and just fires and everything." Bodycam footage later shows the police officer who filmed the footage telling his co-workers about the unusual arrest."
The cop says, while his fellow officers had a laugh: "He broke into a car at the junkyard, and before he could get out, he's done it before, they got like a forklift, and they had him, I'm not kidding, like 20 feet off the ground, so when we got there he went right into custody." Funk has been charged with criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools.