Toledoan arrested after bond release

7/19/2006

SANDUSKY - A Toledo man convicted yesterday on a charge of breaking and entering, then released on bond until his sentencing, was arrested later in the day by Perkins Township police on charges stemming from the theft of money from vending machines near Sandusky.

Aaron Eschmann, 38, pleaded no contest in Lucas County Common Pleas Court and was ordered to return Aug. 24 for sentencing.

Perkins Township police outside Sandusky had earlier issued a CrimeStopper plea for his arrest.

Lt. Al Matthews of the Perkins Township police said his department was not aware that Eschmann had been in court until after his appearance. But one of the department's police officers attached to the U.S. Marshal's Office in Toledo tracked him to his home and arrested him.

Eschmann was taken to the Erie County jail pending arraignment today in Sandusky Municipal Court.

Lieutenant Matthews said warrants charge Eschmann with breaking into vending machines at Great Wolf Lodge on July 3. The charges include burglary, tampering with a coin machine, vandalism, possession of criminal tools, and theft.

Eschmann and co-defendant Thomas Keefe 32, of Toledo, were indicted in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on May 8. Each was charged with two counts of breaking and entering and one charge of possession of criminal tools.

Mr. Keefe's trial is scheduled for Aug. 24.

The pair were charged in May with entering two Toledo schools and breaking into a vending machine in one of them.

Toledo police said their arrests cleared up similar crimes at seven schools since mid-March, as well as break-ins at schools in the Toledo area.