Lorain/Elyria, OH
Police: Vandalism was a case of ‘truth or dare’
VERMILION - Three men were playing “truth or dare” when they broke into a home and caused more than $50,000 in damage, police said.
Justin Hoag, 21, of Lorain, Steven Mahl, 18, and Joshua Mason, 18, both of Elyria, were arrested Saturday night after they bragged about it and tipsters saw stolen items in their homes, police said.
Vermilion police Sgt. Chris Hartung said police initially thought that the vandalism might be a personal attack on homeowner Brad Riggs of the 2300 block of Claus Road, but Riggs was just an unlucky target.
“It was a truth or dare thing,” Hartung said. “They were driving around and picked that house.”
The damage was reported by the homeowner`s son, who walked into the home about 2 p.m. Monday and found a big mess - somebody had smashed two big-screen TVs, an arcade game and a 55-gallon aquarium, items from the kitchen were dumped, a waterbed was slashed, a toilet was clogged, furniture and a child`s room were trashed, an obscene four-letter-word was carved into the felt of the pool table, pool cues were broken, and bar stools were slashed.
In the garage, all four tires on a 1995 Pontiac Trans Am were slashed and dog feces had been put on the vehicle`s engine.
Hoag, Mahl and Mason were being held Sunday night in the Lorain County Jail on one count each of burglary and receiving stolen property and were scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Vermilion Municipal Court.
Hoag was being held on $5,000 bond while Mahl and Mason were being held without bond, a booking officer said. Mason was listed as unemployed while Hoag and Mahl had no listed occupation, the jail official said.
A green leather jacket and snowmobile helmet were found in Hoag`s basement on 21st Street in Lorain along with several street signs for Fulton Road, East 36th Street, 15th Street and Ashland Avenue, a police report stated.
Sheriff`s deputies, the county prosecutor`s office and police in Elyria and Lorain assisted in the investigation, according to Vermilion police.
Hartung said the culprits apparently couldn`t resist bragging after news of the damage hit newspapers and TV.
“They`re not criminals because they`re smart,” Hartung said. “God bless them, it`s job security for police and prosecutors.”
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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All 3 of them should be made to repay all the damage they caused! And jail time isn’t going to make them money. They should be ordered to hold a job and repay every cent to the homeowner! If they lose the job, quit, etc, then lock em’ up! Pitiful that is what people consider fun now a days???!!!
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To start things off, I am not really surprised to learn that the “low life bottom sucking scum feeders” that committed this crime at two o’clock in the afternoon are unemployed.
This is terrible three men who should know better at their age (21, 18, and 18), are playing “Truth or Dare” and destroying a man’s home! I agree with Amber get jobs and have to repay everything! Do not divide the $50,000 between the three men. Make them all earn the $50,000 then let Mr. Riggs replace what was damage by these “low life bottom sucking scum feeders” of society and the rest he can donate to a charity of his choice.
These are “low life bottom sucking scum feeders” that should be made examples of for other young adults that this kind of behavior is not tolerated!
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The comments by the Vermilion police officer quoted in the paper were completely unprofessional. Talking about
“job security” and “God bless them”. They are accussed criminals who invaded and destroyed someone else’s home. I’m glad I don’t live in Vermilion.
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I and my family know all three of them personally, from having worked with two of them in the past at various entertainment events and the last through both of the others. Justin Hoag worked at the Haunted Forest of Carousel and was always a criminal as long as we knew him, including dealing in drugs and stolen property. My children were never allowed to associate with him once we realized exactly what kind of person he was, which was almostimmediately after meeting him. My wife and I had several problems with keeping him away from one of our daughters, as well as threatening a good friend of ours. He was always a punk, the lowest type of person anyone could ever encounter, he always thought of himself as a big tough gangster but was nothing but a little smart mouth punk. I recommended immediately that he be fired from the Haunted Forest of Carousel when I learned of his history and behavior since I was one of their leading actors, but they wouldn’t listen. He continued his behavior and the managers of the Haunted Forest of Carousel didn’t care, one of the reasons my family and I left their employment. I did not want to expose my family to people like him nor thought the public should be exposed to such individuals either. Steven Mahl, Hoag’s cousin from what we heard, also was always in trouble and did whatever Justin did no matter how serious the crime or who it would hurt. He always followed his cousin’s lead, only adding to Justin’s over-sized ego. I am surprised though by Joshua Mason, whom we have known for over six years. In fact, we had been fairly close to all of his family, he never behaved badly or did anything like this as far as we know before. He was always a very respectful and polite youngman, the best of the Mason children when we knew him. In fact, he worked for my entertainment production company a few times as a character actor, Spiderman for one, at film promotions in Elyria and local charity events my company has sponsored. I have never knew him to do anything like this or anything shameful before, he has certainly lost my respect and that of my family. Considering though that he and Steven Mahl has become very good friends, from what we have recently heard, it is no wonder then why he would be involved in this. Although, we believed he had more common sense, honor, and respect for others and justice to allow himself to do such terrible things. I guess we were wrong, for what he and the others did the prosecutors need to throw the full extent of the law against them. You can bet though that Justin was behind this 100% from the very beginning, so glad the law has finally caught up with him. Just sorry it took the damage to these folk’s home and property though.
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i know all three of these boys. especially steven mahl. i have known him for quite a few years and as long as i have i known him he honestly would not have commited this. when i heard it was him i was completely shocked. his parents im sure are tragically hurt i personally know them both. i also know his brother. it makes me wonder what went wrong. but everyone must pay for what they have done.
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These young men need to punished and not by letting them sit in jail. They should be made to get a job and let the county know where they are working and their wages should be garnished. If they quit or ect.. they should be made to registered with the county or where ever they go. The parents of these young men should go to the homeowner’s and survey the damges that their children caused. That is the trouble with today’s children. They probable never got disiplined for anything they did wrong. Just another example of why the need to bring back spankings in the schools and in the home. Manybe if they had gotten a good spanking in their life they would have thought about the path that they are on!
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for the other person listed as none, you have no idea what you are talking about. if you knew any of the boys involved in this, you wouldn’t have said that. and i agree it is fair to judge them for the monstorsity of the crime they committed, but to judge them when you dont know them is ridiculous. i wonder what people would say about you and the mistakes you made if they were published for the world to see.
sometimes people just need to learn lessons their own way, and if this is how my friends decided to learn their lesson, then you should leave it for them to deal with, not judge them. and i’ll agree they should be punished in order to learn from their mistakes, but i think that to judge them and where they came from, and their parents when you don’t know them is wrong and unfair
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TO ALL OF YOU THAT SAY YOU KNOW STEVEN MAHL! YOU DON’T KNOW HIM AT ALL I HAVE KNOWN STEVEN SINCE THE DAY HE WAS BORN! HE HAS NEVER BEEN IN TROUBLE MR HEFFNER AS YOU SAY HE HAS & IS NOT RELATED AT ALL TO JUSTIN HOAG! AS FOR THE PEOPLE THAT THINK STEVEN CAME FROM A HOME THAT DID NOT HAVE DISIPLINE THERE YOU ARE WRONG AGAIN STEVEN COMES FROM A HOME THAT WAS TAUGHT RESPECT & LOVE & DISIPLINE! I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BECAUSE I HAVE NOT TALKED TO STEVEN AS OF YET! I FIND THIS WHOLE THING A NIGHTMARE NOT ONLY FOR THE FAMILY THAT WAS VANADALIZED BUT ALSO FOR STEVENS FAMILY ! I CANNOT COMMENT ON THE OTHER 2 BOYS FAMILIES SINCE I DO NOT KNOW THEM, ALL I KNOW THAT JOSHUA’S FATHER HAD THROWN HIM OUT ! I DO AGREE THAT THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR WHAT THEY DID BUT DON’T JUDGE THIER FAMILIES THAT YOOU DON’T KNOW!
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