Man Charged With Theft After Police Locate Stolen 58-Foot-Long Pedestrian Bridge

A 58-foot-long pedestrian bridge, which was stolen in Akron, Ohio back in November, has now been located, the Associated Press reports. 

Akron police found the partially disassembled walkway in Sharon Township. A man now faces charges of felony theft after the bridge, which once was used in Akron’s Middlebury Run Park, went missing. The Lego-like structure was removed in 2003-04 for a restoration project and saved at the park to eventually be used for a battered women’s shelter. 

First, boards were stripped from the 10-foot-wide and 6-foot-high bridge, which police discovered on Nov. 3, before the entire bridge disappeared on Nov. 11. Authorities now claim the 63-year-old man being charged had hired a trucking company to use a crane and help transport the structure to neighboring Medina County. Local station WOIO reports the man has been identified as David Bramley.

The bridge should be making a return to Akron in the coming days, with the suspect being arraigned at Akron Municipal Court later this week. The AP notes that the man had no attorney and phone numbers listed for him were out of service. 

In other bridge-related news with just a bit more action, last month, video surfaced showing a Florida man crash an allegedly stolen vehicle and jump off a bridge to evade police. 

“[Bryan] Gray got out of the van, jumped over the safety barrier, and dove into the Caloosahatchee River. A perimeter was established, and FMPD’s Marine Unit was deployed,” a Facebook statement from authorities read. “Gray was pulled from the water and detained by deputies before being transported to a local hospital to receive treatment.”