Garfield Heights store owner puts vandalism suspect on blast

GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - A criminal was caught vandalizing the Aaron Sign Shop in Garfield Heights, so the owner is putting the suspect on blast.

Jim Grenig didn’t waste any time plastering the suspect’s face all over his front door. He said the man was caught on his surveillance camera kicking his door in early Saturday morning.

In the video, you can see the suspect walk towards Grenig’s shop on Turney Road in Garfield Heights, and then he starts kicking the door. He can’t break it completely through so eventually he gives up.

“I’m angry,” said Grenig. “I’ve been here 32 years. I do a lot for the community, and I was frustrated. Everybody who walked past in the morning you know before we saw the video footage to me was guilty, so I looked at them like with a side eye.”

Grenig discovered the damage to his door when he got to work around 6 Saturday morning, so he called the police, and they discovered the video. Not only did Grenig share the video all over social media. He also made a huge wanted poster and put it on his front door.

“He took my advertising that I had on the window off by kicking the door, so I really wanted to put this guy firsthand and let everybody see what he had done, hoping to embarrass him and maybe come forward and admit what he did,” Grenig said. “I had the means to kind of punk this guy out a little bit and what better way to do it than to advertise on my own sign shop window? He took that away from me for what I was advertising so I’m gonna give this guy his 15 minutes of fame in the limelight hoping someone in our neighborhood recognizes him, comes forward and we move on from this.”

Grenig says he’s frustrated with all the crime in Garfield Heights and until this guy is caught the poster will stay up.

“From here on out as long as it takes until he or you are captured sir, I will leave it up and I will post more daily,” he said.

Grenig has insurance but said with his deductible it’s not worth using it to fix his window, so it’ll cost him about $600.

Other business owners in the area are frustrated too.

“To be hurt by the community you live in is a real shot across the bowel,” said Weldon Hastings, who owns Weldon PC.

Grenig is hopeful police will catch the suspect.

Grenig and Weldon are offering $500 for any information that leads to this man’s arrest.

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