Jury duty scam returns with $15,000 in kangaroo court costs: Pepper Pike Police Blotter

Community NewsIn separate incidents, police met up with a man in the Heinen's cafe where he was eating grapes and sushi he had not paid for, as well as a resident on the hook from a collection agency for a $500 loan due to an online university based in Utah.Pepper Pike Police DepartmentBy Thomas Jewell, special to cleveland.comPEPPER PIKE, OhioTheft by deception: Shaker BoulevardA resident, 57, reported she’d been scammed on Sept. 17 after receiving a phone call about her pending arrest for missing jury duty in Cuyahoga County Common Court.She wound up depositing $15,000 cash into a Bitcoin ATM in Cleveland, with Pepper Pike police taking the report as the investigation continued, including the initial call to her home.Police pointed to a number of red flags in the scam, starting with the over-the-phone claims of warrants issued over a jury duty summons, as well as any demands for cash -- crypto-conversions or otherwise.Unwanted guest: Pinetree LanePolice responded to the Heinen’s grocery cafe around 1 p.m. Sept. 11 for a Cleveland man, 72, eating grapes and sushi from the store that he had not paid for.After speaking with the man, he was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.Identity theft: Shaker BoulevardA resident, 46, reported Sept. 12 she’d received notification in the mail from a collection agency that she currently owed $500 student loan taken out in her name at Western Governors University, an online college based in Utah.She requested documentation for further action against the fraudulent loan.Animal bites: Pinetree RoadA resident reported walking out of the UPS store around 4 p.m. Sept. 12 and getting bitten on the left leg by another patron’s dog as they were going in.The dog belonged to a Beachwood woman who had it leashed at the time. Police said the two human parties planned to settle the incident amicably.Mutual aid: Lander RoadOrange police requested backup on a traffic stop in the Huntington Bank parking lot at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 12 involving a driver who became combative.Police later used a Taser on the Cleveland Heights man, 31, with Pepper Pike officers assisting to take him into custody.Traffic stop: Fairmount BoulevardPolice stopped a Lexus ES 350 for running a stop sign on Sept. 13 shortly after midnight and found that the driver, a Shaker Heights man, 23, had a suspended license.He was cited and the car impounded.Get police blotters by email every weekday for free with our Police Blotter newsletter. Sign up at cleveland.com/newsletterRead more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.Suburban correspondent since 2009