Flooring stolen, suspect arrested in Dayton theft

Police said they arrested a woman believed to be connected to a theft from a home on East Stewart Street, and now they are looking for another suspect.

Someone called police after they witnessed a theft at a home in the 800-block of East Stewart early Wednesday morning.  The caller described a red pickup truck that left the scene of the crime.

 "When the alert came out we had some officers in the area of Linden and Hamilton who saw this vehicle go by," said Lt. Kenneth Beall.

Officers followed the vehicle until it crashed into a parked car near the intersection of Jersey Street and Fourth Street around 2 a.m.  The woman driver jumped out of the truck and attempted to flee from officers on foot, police said.  She was eventually arrested in a nearby alley.  The scene woke some residents out of their beds.

"I was out like a light.  I'd been sick for the last two days and this was not how I wanted to get well," said Marco Cardona, the owner of the car hit by the suspect's truck.  "I walked outside and sure enough the truck was sitting on top of it."

Inside the bed of the truck were numerous boxes of Golden Elite laminate flooring believed to have been taken from the home on Stewart Street, police said. According to officers, they believe the house may have been under some sort of renovation.

Cardona is hopeful police will catch the second person involved.  "I hope they catch them," he said.