MANSFIELD, Ohio — In response to the recent rash of robberies that have occurred in Mansfield, Ken Coontz, chief of the Mansfield Police Department, firmly stated, “If you are going to come in Mansfield and you are going to commit violent crime, we will use every resource available–local, state, federal, national–to bring you back to answer for the crimes that you’ve done.”
Coontz shared this message during a press conference held Monday. Fellow speakers at the conference included Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker, Mansfield Police Lt. Rob Skropits, Brian Fitzgibbon of the U.S. Marshals Service, and Todd Wickerham with the FBI.
Mansfield has been subject to numerous robberies, especially bank robberies, over the past few months. Coontz highlighted a couple incidents–the Directions Credit Union robbery in November and the Mechanics Bank robbery that occurred in early January. In both cases, the police were able to apprehend the suspects who were involved.
Coontz noted that the brave efforts performed by Officer James Reed during the Directions Credit Union robbery were vital in catching the culprit. Reed was inside the bank at the time of the incident and chased down the armed suspect on foot.
In regard to the Mechanics Bank robbery, Coontz said, “Through collaboration with the FBI office and the Mansfield police detectives, we were able to bring that person to justice as well.”
Collaboration was key in helping apprehend three suspects involved in the Dec. 15 Richland Bank robbery and Jan. 15 Chase Bank robbery.
Coontz stated, “The citizens of Mansfield called in and gave us numerous tips. Filtering through the tips with the FBI, we were able to identify some locations that we wanted to conduct some search warrants. In fact, we conducted four search warrants in the city of Mansfield: one was at 116 Brushwood Drive, another one was at 161 N. Trimble Road, and another was at 1280 S. Main Street. The other one was conducted here at station on an another piece of evidence that we recovered from one of those three locations.”
He said the evidence helped lead to the arrest of three individuals who were involved in both of the robberies: Kyle Tesca, 20, Caleb Lambert, 21, and Kollin Tesca, 19.
Kollin Tesca was arrested Thursday in Mansfield. Kyle Alan Tesca and Caleb Lambert were arrested Friday in Miami Beach, Florida. All three were charged with one count of aggravated robbery.
Kollin Tesca is in the Richland County Jail and Kyle Tesca and Caleb Lambert are in custody in Miami Beach, awaiting extradition.
Coontz noted, “For now, these are three primary suspects that we were able to identify through our community contact and through our collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.”
The investigation, however, is ongoing. Coontz said, “Our investigation is not complete, and if we are able to charge additional people, we will charge additional people.”
He highlighted his staff’s diligence and commitment throughout the investigation, saying, “Trust me, a lot of resources, a lot of behind the scenes activity went on–working day and night. I know one night they were here until four o’clock in the morning following up leads.”
He also praised state and federal agencies for their help in catching the suspects. “It’s never just one agency when you have something that’s this large-scale,” Coontz said.
Skropits, who supervises the major crimes unit, gave a special shout-out to the community, noting, “Their actions here in Richland County have said we are not going to take this anymore, and they’ve stepped up and helped us with this investigation.”
Theaker commented, “This is a momentous occasion that I want to commend all of the law enforcement officers, all of law enforcement agencies that were involved in the apprehension of violent criminals that came to Mansfield.”
He continued, “This proves that Mansfield is an area that if there’s violent crime, we will find you and we will track you down. With the cooperation of the local, state, and federal agencies we were able to do that.”
“Our investigation is not complete, and if we are able to charge additional people, we will charge additional people,” said Chief Coontz.
