ALL FOR 20 BUCKS

Steven Lassen told the Elyria Police that he was using a payphone at the Marathon Gas Station on Furnace Sunday afternoon when he was approached by two men asking if he could make change for a dollar bill. When Lassen took out his wallet one of the men “snatched” a twenty from the wallet and took off. The men ran north on Furnace towards Rt. 57 with Lassen right behind them. One of the two men stopped at one point and said to Lassen, “You had better stop following me or I’m gonna fuck you up”. Lassen then began following the men from a safer distance. Lassen followed the men to the area of Speedway on Bell Ave and Rt. 57. Lassen flagged down Firefighters who were returning to their station near the Speedway, they called the Police and advised them what was going on.

Lassen gave descriptions of the two men to the Police as they searched the area. Officers began taking Lassen back to the area where the robbery took place when they got to the intersection of Furnace and Belmont. Lassen spotted the men on Belmont and told Police “That’s them right there.” Lassen pointed out that the taller one was the man who robbed him and the shorter male was with him. Officer’s ordered the two men to the ground and then placed them under arrest. A crumpled up 20 dollar bill was found on the ground next to one of the men.

The two men taken into custody were 26 year old Benjamin Stewart and 21 year old Michael Jackson. Lassen identified Stewart as the man who took his money. Stewart, a Bell Ave resident was charged with Robbery (F-2) and Jackson, a Courtland St resident was charged with Robbery-Complicity (F-3).