Press release
At 4:52 am this morning (Friday), Officer Stephen Knapp was on patrol and drove to the rear of Heritage Baptist Church, 1381 S. R. 61 to make sure everything was ok. What he found was a suspicious vehicle behind the church with the trunk lid partially open. He radioed for additional units to respond to the church and then saw a light come on inside the church. He then saw a person inside the church with a stocking hat and bandana over his face.
Lt. Joe Cinadr and Officer Ryan Strange arrived and all three officers set up a perimeter around the church. One of the suspects then exited the church and was apprehended by our officers. A short time later, the second suspect announced to the officers that he was coming out of the church. Both suspects were placed under arrest.
Inside the church officers found several items stacked up that were ready to be removed from the church. Nothing was inside the vehicle due to Officer Knapp arriving prior to the suspects removing any items.
Arrested and currently being held at the Crawford County Jail are:
Michael Jackson, 30 years old, Mansfield, Ohio (left) and James Cushing, 29 years old, Shelby, Ohio (right).
The Galion Police Department will be submitting the investigation to the Crawford County Prosecutor requesting charges of Breaking and Entering on both suspects.
“I am very proud of our officers,” said Galion Police Chief Brian Saterfield. “This was an outstanding effort by Officer Knapp to notice that something did not look right and great teamwork by all three officers to apprehend the suspects!”