Homeless man accused of theft

By Denise Dick

The man approached elderly residents, asking to borrow money to help his wife he says is stranded in Lorain.

BOARDMAN — Police arrested a homeless man accused of scamming elderly township residents out of money.

Sgt. Glen Riddle and members of the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force arrested Steven E. Kuhn Jr., 41, Tuesday morning as he was leaving a Youngstown-Warren Road motel, Niles. Warrants had been issued for Kuhn last week.

Court records list Kuhn’s last known address as Rockland Avenue.

“It’s felony theft because it’s money taken from an elderly or disabled person,” said Detective Chuck Mound. Kuhn is charged with two counts of theft from an elderly person.

He is lodged in the Mahoning County Jail on a $2,500 bond, and a hearing is set for today in Mahoning County Court.

Kuhn is accused of knocking on the door of a 74-year-old Woodrow Avenue man March 18, asking to borrow $40. He told the resident that he needed the money because his wife was broken down on the Ohio Turnpike near Lorain.

The elderly victim gave a man later identified as Kuhn the money and was told he’d return to pay him back. Kuhn walked away and didn’t return with money, police said.

On March 20, a 73-year-old Beechwood Avenue man was at the Glenwood Avenue home of a friend when Kuhn knocked on the door.

He said he was a neighbor and needed money to help his wife who was out of gas and stuck in Lorain. The Beechwood man gave Kuhn $60, and Kuhn drove away in a blue car, police said.

The victims identified Kuhn from a photo lineup.

A relative of the Woodrow Avenue victim said the man would be happy to learn of Kuhn’s arrest.

Other similar incidents had been reported by elderly residents of Wilda Avenue and Nellbert Lane.

Kuhn hasn’t been charged in those incidents, but the investigation continues.

In each of the reports, the man said his wife was stranded in or near Lorain and that he needed to borrow money to go help her. In some of them, he said he was a neighbor.

denise_dick@vindy.com