Serial Thief Caught With 547 Stolen Signs In Avon Lake

AVON LAKE, OH — For the last five months, signs advertising soccer registration, business expos, Easter services, and dozens of other causes have been stolen out of Avon Lake residents' yards and city-owned tree lawns. Police began receiving complaints about the missing signs months ago, prompting an investigation into the matter.

On Thursday, officers arrested a suspect. John Hoelzl, 62, was charged with receiving stolen property, a felony of the fifth degree. When police searched Hoelzl's home, they found 547 road signs, collectively valued at $5,500.

The search for the sign thief started nearly half a year ago, a spokesperson for Avon Lake police said. Reports of stolen signs would come in sporadically, but were becoming steady in the last month.

Then a third-party turned over video footage of a man stealing a sign out of a yard. Officers were able to identify Hoelzl as the thief in the video and arrested him soon after.

“This should hopefully put to rest the mystery behind our disappearing road signs," a spokesperson for Avon Lake police told Patch.

Police say Hoelzl admitted to stealing the signs, but said he was removing them because he felt they were a distraction to drivers. He was released on a $1,000 bond on Thursday. He has a pre-trial hearing scheduled in Avon Lake Municipal Court for June 29 at 10 a.m.

While many of the signs Hoelzl was stealing were legally posted, a few had been improperly hammered into the ground. The city asks that if residents want to post a road sign, they get approval via the city's website.

Avon Lake police did not immediately respond to Patch's request for more information.

Photo from Avon Lake Police