Shortly after officers pushed this disabled vehicle, Lalit Sarki and Nima D. Tamang, were arrested in connection with a series of Central Ohio thefts. A group of men left one store after allegedly stealing from it and led police on a short chase. After taking one man into custody, police helped push the vehicle to a safe spot and get it running. The two other men then left the parking lot and went to another store and allegedly stole from it. Pictured above are, Sarki, driving, along with, from left, Marysville Police Chad Seeberg, Dave Nist and Jason Nichols, and Tamang pushing. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
After stealing from Home Depot, trio gets push from cops so they can rob Lowes
A series of bizarre events, including having the police push their vehicle between alleged thefts, let to the arrest of a trio of alleged thieves this week.
Nima D. Tamang, 34, of Columbus and Lalit Sarki, 24, of Reynoldsburg, were both arrested Wednesday, charged with theft. Maynord O. Minor, 45, of Columbus was also arrested on a warrant out of Upper Arlington.
About 12:51 p.m., Wednesday, Marysville Police received a report that a blue, Hyundai Sonata hit a Buick in the Home Depot parking lot on Delaware Ave.
According to court documents, the Sonata left the scene. Marysville Police Officer Dave Nist got behind the vehicle and tried to initiate a traffic stop.
The vehicle continued away and eventually drove into the McDonald’s parking lot. As the vehicle tried to pull around to the other side, it was hemmed in by other police vehicles and stopped.
Deputy Chief Tony Brooks, of the Marysville Police Department, said there was a “language barrier” with the driver, Minor. At the time, police believed that barrier could have led to confusion over the stop.
As police searched the vehicle, they found items, “that they believed did not belong to the men.” The items included tools and other merchandise from a home improvement store. Brooks said the men were also wearing coats with the linings cut. He said criminals will often cut the linings of their coats so they can hide items in the lining without detection.
Police also found what they believe to be drug paraphernalia in the car.
While police were at the scene, it was learned that Minor had the warrant. He was taken into custody and transported to Upper Arlington.
Brooks said the potentially stolen items were seized, pending an investigation, but the other men in the car, Tamang and Sarki, were released.
The men tried to move their Hyundai, but couldn’t get it started. Police on the scene pushed the vehicle to a nearby parking lot. The officers then went back to the police station to get a set of jumper cables so they could get the car running, which they eventually did.
At 2:14 p.m., detectives with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office called the Maryville Division of Police. The detectives said Sarki and Tamang were in the local Lowes parking lot. The detectives said they had been keeping tabs on Sarki and Tamang as part of a case involving multiple thefts throughout the Central Ohio area.
The Delaware County detectives told police they were in the parking lot and could see Sarki and Tamang leaving the store.
“It appeared that Lalit was concealing items in his jacket,” according to court documents.
Police stopped the vehicle and found more than $2,500 worth of Lowes merchandise in the car,
“Both Lalit (Sarki) and Nima (Tamang) worked in tandem together, as they were both in the store, in order to remove the large amount of merchandise,” according to court documents.
Brooks said the case remains under investigation.
Those with information are being asked to contact the Marysville Division of Police at (937) 645-7300 or by e-mail at police@marysvilleohio.org.