March 19, 2012 in BREAKING, Elyria by Rona Proudfoot
ELYRIA — Police were called to Wasabi Steakhouse late Friday after a patron reportedly stole a 3-foot-tall Buddha statue.
According to a police report, an officer was dispatched to the Midway Mall restaurant at 10:30 p.m.
Restaurant manager Yuwei Zhao told police a group of patrons left the restaurant about 10:15 p.m., and another patron saw them take the red statue that was sitting next to the cash register.
Zhao said that patron saw the people put the statue in a vehicle and drive off toward West River Road but that one of the people in the group went inside Harry Buffalo restaurant.
Police found Matthew Resch, 29, in the bar and asked him to speak with them. As he left Harry Buffalo, Resch became very agitated, began flailing his arms and could not answer simple questions about his whereabouts, the police report said.
When he would not calm down, Resch was issued a citation for disorderly conduct. Resch then told police that he didn't know any of the people he was at Wasabi Steakhouse with other than seeing them at the bar from time to time.
Officers viewed video from inside the restaurant, but the Buddha statue was out of camera range, the report said. They were able to identify the following members of the group: a white male wearing a tank top, a white female and a heavyset black male.
