Police Blotter: More Copper Downspouts Stripped From Homes

Lower Merion Township police reported last week’s crimes and incidents Monday afternoon, Aug. 8, in a weekly briefing to news media.

An attempted robbery at the  on Coulter Avenue in Ardmore’s Suburban Square on Friday, Aug. 5 turned into a midday vehicular pursuit when two would-be shoplifters sped away in a blue Jeep Cherokee, Lower Merion Police said Monday. For the full story on the heads-up capture by a Lower Merion police officer, using a tool known as “Stop Sticks,” .

In other incidents:

Theft: Two seven-foot sections of copper downspouts were taken from the 300 block of N. Bowman Ave. in Merion between July 23 and Aug. 2, police said.

Also in Merion, sometime between July 29 and Aug. 2, four sections of copper downspouts were stolen from a home on the 500 block of N. Latches Lane.

Theft: Police reported a catalytic converter taken from a 2011 Toyota Tacoma at the Wynnewood train station the following day, Aug. 3. 

In what would normally qualify as “News Next Door” items here at Patch, it’s worth noting that the string of catalytic converter thefts continues around the area—two were stolen last week from vehicles at the Rosemont train station.

One was cut from a 2010 Toyota 4Runner in the station’s north side parking lot, sometime between 7:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, police said. And sometime during the same day at the same train station, another catalytic converter was “sawed off” from another, unidentified vehicle, police said. The victim reported the damage and replacement of the equipment cost $1,700.

Police suspect thieves are using a battery-operated reciprocating Sawzall to quickly remove the converters, which are easily accessed on SUVs.

Theft: About $5 in loose change was reported stolen from an unlocked car overnight on Aug. 3, on the 600 block of Latham Drive in Wynnewood.

Theft: On Aug. 3, a black iPad worth about $500 was reported missing from the Main Line Infiniti dealership in Ardmore. A vehicle owner told police the iPad was left in his car when he dropped it off for service at about 9 a.m., and when he returned at noon, it was gone.

DUI: A 23-year-old Wynnewood woman from the 600 block of Greythorne Road was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol at 3 a.m. on Aug. 5, police said. The woman was observed by police driving with a flat passenger side tire on Woodside Road in Ardmore. Stopped at the Wawa in Ardmore, police said she was “unsteady on her feet,” failed a field sobriety test, and blew a .08 on a breathalyzer at the police station.