Police arrest two suspects trying to break into auto wash coin boxes

By Karen Cornelius

It was pitch dark near midnight on Halloween, October 31, when two suspects in a grey truck were parked at Liberty Auto Wash on Liberty Avenue with the thought of opening the coin boxes to retrieve some cash. What were the chances, that at that very moment their movements were being monitored by Sergeant Jeff Chandler sitting in a patrol car at the Liberty Ford lot with a view of the auto wash business. Little did the suspects know their scheme was about to turn very unlucky for them. They did not have a chance to gain entry into any of the coin boxes or vacuum machines.

Officer Chandler moved in with backup from patrolmen Wood and Bailey. Two 19-year-old males recently coming to Vermilion from Georgia were arrested. Both suspects were processed and charged with the following, according to the Vermilion Police report. Driver Zackary Vosburgh was charged with tampering with coin machines, M1, and possession of criminal tools, M1. Lenny Brown, the passenger, was charged with complicity to tampering with coin machines, M1, as he alledged he was the lookout but did not know what they were going to break into at the auto wash. Brown claimed they were going to use the money toward an apartment as he just came here from Georgia while Vosburgh just said he had been in Vermilion for a few months and just wanted to use it for food, something to eat.

According to the report, Vosburgh had several tools in his vehicle and was using a bolt cutter and other tools such as a screw driver to gain entry to various boxes. The boxes were checked near the vacuum station and the locks had scrape marks on them, but the lock bar appeared too thick to cut through. In the truck’s trunk there was also a small utility axe and a handle of a gun was sticking out from a blanket. While the weapon appeared to be a 357 magnum it was only a CO2 air gun which looked very much like the real thing.

Both suspects were cooperative with Vosburgh admitting it was very stupid on his part and that Brown had nothing to do with it. Both were taken to Lorain County Jail on no bond until their court date.