Auto shop employees use forklift to stop car theft, police body cam video shows

AKRON, Ohio -- Auto shop employees came up with a creative way to stop a thief.

Body camera footage from police reveals how they managed to catch the criminal midair, WOIO reported.

Employees at Arlington Autowrecking in Akron said they are sick and tired of people breaking into their shop and stealing from them.

So when they caught a man who had broken into one of their cars for what they claimed was the third time, they weren't taking any chances.

Employees used a forklift to suspend the car in midair.

"He broke into a car at the junkyard and before he could get out, he's done it before, they got like the forklift and they had him like I'm not kidding like 20 feet off the ground, so when we got there we went right into custody," an officer explained to other officers in the body camera footage.

When officers arrived, it was an easy arrest.

Police arrested 26-year-old Alexander Funk for criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools.

Employees told police Funk had broken in several times before.

"I was putting the car in the shop and he was in the backseat and we called the police on him. We were waiting for you guys to get here and he shoved one of my guys out of the way and took off running," a worker told an officer in the video.

Funk had previous run-ins with the law, including convictions for criminal trespassing.