Attempted Thief Forklifted 20 Feet In The Air Until Police Showed Up To Arrest Him

Screenshot: 19 News Cleveland

An attempted thief was allegedly stopped when a junkyard employee used a forklift to lift the SUV into the air and held it there until police arrived.

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By holding the vehicle so far off the ground, the employee was able to keep the suspect from escaping while they waited for police to show up. According to the owner of the junkyard, this also wasn’t the first time that Alexander Funk had broken in, Cleveland’s 19 News reports:

“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,” the employee said. “I mean we’ve just had so much problems here with theft and catalytic converters and just fires and everything.”

Akron police arrested 26-year-old Alexander Funk for criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools.

Police said Funk was wearing a backpack that had a sawzall cutting tool, sawzall blades and several other hand tools.

“Alright man well here’s the deal this lot is, there’s been a serious amount of break-ins and converters cut off and you got a Sawzall and you’re in a private area of the business not open to the public,” an officer told Funk. “So, what do you got the Sawzall for?”

“Uh copper to be honest brother, not gonna lie,” Funk admitted.

According to one junkyard employee, the last time Funk allegedly broke in, he managed to escape before being arrested, so we don’t blame them one bit for breaking out the ol’ forklift. It’s not exactly a conventional method of holding a thief until police arrive, but it sure did work. As they say, modern problems require modern solutions. We’re just happy they released the bodycam footage so everyone can enjoy the sight of a Murano suspended 20 feet up in the air.

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