Akron Man Showers, Eats, Starts Fire, Steals Car After Breaking into Home
In a bizarre incident, an Akron man faces multiple felony charges after he broke into a house on Aquilla Road, took a shower, ate some food, torched the deck and stole the homeowner’s car.
In a bizarre incident, an Akron man faces multiple felony charges after he broke into a house on Aquilla Road, took a shower, ate some food, torched the deck and stole the homeowner’s car.
Zane Michael Bellar, 24, was charged with one count each of aggravated arson and burglary, both second-degree felonies, and one count of fourth-degree felony theft following his Sept. 4 arrest in Cleveland. Bond was set in Chardon Municipal Court at $10,000, 10% cash or surety, and his case was bound over to Geauga County Common Pleas Court for future proceedings.
Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested Bellar in Parkman Township for driving under the influence, after he reportedly had been thrown out of Nelson Ledges Quarry Park. Troopers took Bellar to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center, because he was under the influence of some type of drug, and left him there. He was treated and eventually released.
“So we get a call that he’s waking down (state Route) 44 by the (sheriff’s) office and he tells us what had happened,” Hildenbrand said. “We bring him back to the sheriff’s office so he could use a phone and call for a ride, but he apparently was unable to get ahold of anybody or doesn’t even try.”
Bellar leaves and ends up at the Marathon gas station at the intersection of state routes 44 and 87, and eventually is asked to leave. He ventures across the street to the BP station, steals some firewood and starts a fire behind the building to stay warm.
“Well, apparently he leaves there and starts walking down 87 and finds a bicycle and rides it down almost to Aquilla Road, and leaves it in a ditch,” Hildenbrand said.
Bellar makes his way to a home on Aquilla Road and curls up on a dog bed on the back deck to get some sleep, as it is early in the morning. He also starts making some noise to see if anyone was home.
“When he realizes nobody’s home, he breaks a window in the door and reaches in and unlocks the door and goes in,” the sheriff explained. “And while he’s in there, he takes a shower and a bath, changes his clothes, puts the homeowner’s clothes on, eats an ice cream cone out of the freezer, has a Gatorade out of the refrigerator and decides at some point he’s ready to leave.”
But not before starting a small fire on the back deck that he could not extinguish.
Bellar unsuccessfully tries to start a 4-wheeler and then finds keys in the homeowner’s car.
“So he gets the car started and starts heading toward Cedar Point, because he figures that would be a good place to ditch a stolen car,” Hildenbrand said.
Meanwhile, a motorist passing by sees the fire, calls it in and the fire department arrives and realizes the house was broken into, puts the fire out and calls the sheriff’s office.
“We call the homeowners, who were camping, and they give us a description of the car. We put it in the computer,” Hildenbrand said. “Well, on the way to Cedar Point, he hits a retaining wall in Cleveland and does damage to the car, flattens the tire. While he’s out trying to change the tires, state patrol rolls up again, realizes it’s a stolen car and arrests him.”
Sheriff’s deputies pick up Bellar and bring him back to Geauga County.
As detectives are searching the Aquilla Road home, they discover that Bellar left his wallet and watch on the counter in the bathroom, probably when he took a shower.
The case is not yet assigned and there currently are no scheduled court dates.
