LORAIN — Police have arrested a man in connection with Thursday’s bank robbery in South Lorain.

Brendon Lieb, 22, from Lorain, was booked on robbery charges Friday, according to Lorain police Lt. Mark Carpentiere. Police responded to the robbery at the First Federal Savings Bank of Lorain at East 42nd Street and state Route 57 about 3:35 p.m. Thursday.
The robber did not display a weapon, according to police.

Carpentiere said officers recognized Lieb from a surveillance photo, and he was picked up on several unrelated warrants at his home on Meadow Lane, which is near the bank. Credit goes to officers Shawn Petty and Tim Thompson, Carpentiere said.

“They were the officers that developed information that led them to identify Lieb as a suspect in the bank robbery, then locate and arrest him on some outstanding warrants,” he said.

Carpentiere said Lieb got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and some of that money was recovered when he was arrested.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

WELLINGTON — Ryan Mayse didn’t have the longest pull in Wednesday night’s Lorain County Fair truck pull.

But he might have had the loudest applause when it was announced that Mayse, an Army specialist home on leave from Afghanistan, was dedicating his run to two fellow servicemen who won’t be coming home.

Mayse, 22, said Staff Sgt. Ampers and Sgt. McDonald were close to his heart while he competed even though he didn’t remember their first names — he rarely used them, he explained.

McDonald was in a truck that was blown up by an improved explosive device, and Ampers was the victim of a rocket-propelled grenade when he tried to assist other soldiers who’d gotten into a firefight, Mayse said.

“It doesn’t matter who it is, you’re never ready to lose anybody over there,” Mayse said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your worst enemy or your best friend. You don’t wish that on anyone.”

Mayse, who is from central Ohio, is headed back to Afghanistan — he can’t say where specifically — on Sept. 3. But for now he’s enjoying his time home. He’s headed to another diesel event in Indiana Thursday.

“I planned my leave around this,” he said of county fair season.

While other guys were taking leave in May or June, Mayse said, “I’ll wait till August,” he said.

His fellow soldiers responded, “You’re going to go home and break the truck, aren’t you?” he said.

Mayse said he’s been watching truck and tractor pulls since he was a little kid and got involved himself following his first tour in Afghanistan a couple years ago because he finally had the money to buy his first truck.

“I don’t have a whole lot of chance to do it, so when I do, I jump all over it,” he said.

Mayse’s pull of 230.26 feet, near the bottom of the 2.6 diesel truck class, didn’t disappoint him.

“Whatever you can do is whatever you can do,” he said, admitting that he’s always nervous and his skin crawls when he’s about to pull.

He’s eager to get his truck competitive with others in his class, which he says he’ll accomplish by sinking all of his deployment money into it.

For him, it’s a way to get away from the reality he’ll be facing in under 10 days.

“To come home and do this stuff and not have to care or worry about anything — that’s the best feeling,” he said.

WELLINGTON — Danielle Heffernan and Andrew Gest were crowned king and queen of the 2011 Lorain County Fair during opening ceremonies today.

Heffernan, 18, of Amherst, is a Marion L. Steel graduate. Gest, 18, of Grafton, is a Midview grad.

“I was definitedly very excited,” Heffernan said. “When I was little in 4-H, we’d always look at the king and queen in fair and see them in their pretty dresses. It’s exciting to finally be in that position.”

“I’d just like to say congratulations to the other contestants — they all did a great job,” Gest said.

Heffernan, a member of the Amherst Critters and Such 4-H group as well as a Junior Fair Board member, will leave for Ohio University two days after the fair wraps up. She plans to major in business management.

Gest, Junior Fair Board president, will attend Ohio State University and major in construction management.

“It’s natural for me to be here,” Heffernan said of the fair, explaining that she was “born into it.”

Gest agreed.

“My family’s always been involved in the fair. We’ve always brought 4-H projects out here,” he said. “It was just part of my life when I was growing up.”

SANDUSKY — Cedar Point’s newest addition will be a prehistoric-themed attraction called “Dinosaurs Alive!” the park announced today.

Dinosaurs Alive!, which will cost $1 million to build, will feature 50 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that will roar and move.

“We are extremely excited about introducing Dinosaurs Alive! to our guests next summer,” said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “Our guests will have the opportunity to visit the Jurassic Age up close and see some of the amazing creatures that called it home. Dinosaurs Alive! will be educational but fun, too.”

Dinosaurs Alive! will be located on four acres on the wooded island that is located in the lagoons toward the back of the park.

Cedar Point will also add a mat-racer slide complex to the Soak City water park.