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YOUNGSTOWN -- State troopers, the Youngstown Police Department and the owner of two stolen vans collaborated early Tuesday to catch a suspect in the thefts of two vans from Trumbull County and an attempted robbery of an ATM machine in the 800 block of East Midlothian Boulevard.
Capt. Jason Simon of the Youngstown Police Department confirmed that Abdliezel Hassen, 29, of Campbell, is the suspect who was arrested. Hassen is charged with theft, receiving stolen property and possession of criminal tools, though Hassen was not listed in Youngstown Municipal Court records Tuesday afternoon as having been charged. He also was not in the Mahoning County jail, according to jail records.
Hassen was arrested at the scene of the ATM theft near Simon Road, which is just west of Lake Park Cemetery on the South Side of the city.
Lt. Eric Brown, commander of the Canfield Post of the Highway Patrol, said the post received an alert to be on the lookout for two vans that had been stolen from Trumbull County. A Youngstown police report states that the owner lives in Bristolville.
The vans apparently had GPS tracking devices on them and the location of one of the vans was provided to the Canfield post dispatcher, Brown said.
Troopers were not far away and went to the location of the Midlothian Boulevard ATM machine. There, they found individuals trying to break into the machine. The van was pulled up to the machine, and a trooper identified the van as being a match with one of the stolen ones. The trooper made a stop on the van, Brown said.
Three individuals "took off running, and one was apprehended," Brown said of Hassen.
The Youngstown Police Department is investigating the incident. A Youngstown police report states that when two Youngstown officers arrived at the ATM, two state troopers had located a 2010 Ford Econoline van and were advising Hassen of his rights.
Police later obtained names of the two other suspects -- one man from Youngstown and one from Campbell.
Youngstown and Boardman officers checked the area but did not find the two other men. Officers observed that the door lock to the ATM had been cut and a handsaw was located on the ground near the ATM. Youngstown police later located the second stolen van on Eddie Street on the West Side, according to a police report.