Police: Elyria residents holler as officers bust bootleg movie, music salesman

ELYRIA, Ohio - Elyria residents screamed out that they didn’t want ‘the movie man’ arrested, police say, as they busted a man for selling bootleg DVDs.

Officers responded to a complaint of a man selling bootleg DVDs from his black van in Wilkes Villa at about 1:50 p.m. Friday. They said they observed Arthur Williams in the van on Bohannon Court near Pratt Blvd. with a large black binder full of DVDs and CDs that was open and sitting in his lap.

Police said Williams was initially apprehensive while questioned, admitting to selling DVDs to friends and people in Wilkes Villa. Williams told police he buys DVDs from someone in Cleveland for $5 and burns copies, selling them for $2.

Williams was taken into custody and charged with criminal stimulation for the bootleg of DVDs and CDs.

Once in custody, Williams changed his story, according to police. They said Williams told them he lied and that he downloads the movies from a website and burns them to disc.

Williams told police the titles include Taken 2, The Avengers, Rick Ross and 2 Chains CDs, which he sells for $2.

Elyria residents expressed outrage as Williams was taken into custody yelling “Don’t arrest the movie man” and “Where am I gonna get my movies now. I don’t have cable,” according to police.

They said the evidence consisted of a black binder with 130 DVDs, 80 CDs.

Williams was given a copy of his warrant, told he is on the Wilkes Villa criminal trespassing list and released on a summons to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office.