$300,000+ worth of equipment stolen from Columbus Fire Training Academy; suspects arrested

Last week, hundreds of thousands of equipment was stolen from the training center on Parsons Avenue, where the Columbus Division of Fire trains new firefighters.

Court records show that the suspect got into the Fire Training Academy by cutting a hole through the fence in the early hours of March 30, and then allegedly throwing a cinder block through the garage door.

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Stolen items listed in the police report range from thermal image cameras, radios, saws, generators, to even a Ford CFD transit van. Surveillance cameras show an orange truck close to the academy before and during the burglary, then following the aforementioned stolen vehicle for an hour throughout Franklin & Pickaway Counties.

Suspects Stephanie Ramirez, 49, was arrested on April 4 on a burglary charge, and 44 year old Roger Knapp was also charged for theft and distribution of stolen property. Detectives used the license plate recognition detection system, called FLOCK, to find the suspect driving the orange truck.

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