Another Suspected Theft at Old Navy: Mayfield Heights Police Blotter

Incidents reported from April 22 to April 26:

Empty bottles: A resident near Lander and Maplewood roads called Mayfield Heights Police on April 22 after finding empty alcohol bottles in his side yard.

The resident said that a few times a week he finds a few empty wine bottles in his side yard on the Maplewood side of his home. He requested the department's special attention because he has seen the bottles repeatedly in recent weeks.

One of the man's neighbors told him he had experienced the same problem. Police vowed to check into the matter.

Wrong-way driver: Mayfield Heights Police pulled a driver over just after 8 p.m. April 23 after receiving calls about the woman's car driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of Mayfield Road.

She accessed the portion of Mayfield Road that is under construction from Gates Mills Boulevard and West Hill Drive. According to the police report, woman told police she didn't realize the road was closed.

Loss prevention spots potential thieves: Old Navy employees saw two women loading merchandise into bags at 7:41 p.m. April 26. The women appeared ready to walk out of the store without paying for the items before they were spotted by the store's loss prevention department.

The women then put the merchandise back. Loss prevention told police about the women, and officers soon arrived at Eastgate shopping plaza. Police searched Five Below and CVS, but were unable to locate the women.

Mayfield Police Sgt. Richard Orcutt said loss prevention agencies at local retailers do a good job of making sure potential thieves don't make it out of the store with stolen merchandise. Despite similar incidents in recent weeks, Orcutt said these near thefts aren't a trend. Rather, they seem to come in spurts throughout any given year.

"I think it happens more often than most people think," he said, "but if they don't get caught, we don't get the calls."