AUSTINTOWN Mystery pallets of Chinese PPE supplies were dumped at vacant properties on the south side of Youngstown, and the former California Palms Hotel in Austintown.

Local contractor George Funtulis first alerted 21 News at pallets on a vacant property he owns on Cambridge Avenue.

"We've had lots of things dropped at properties. This is the first time we've ever had anything like this," said Funtulis.

Five Pallets, with boxes five high, and two wide, filled with surgical gowns, alcohol wipes, masks and other personal protective equipment, better known as PPE.

 

"There is five or six more pallets of surgical things at an Austintown address and they're trying to figure out how they got there," Funtulis explained. 

In front of the old California Palms Hotel and former substance abuse treatment facility, were close to a dozen more pallets.

Aside from the date 10/6/2021, the the only identification on these pallets was a storage facility in Bedford Heights, near Cleveland.

The shipping company tells 21 News the pallets were shipped from Cleveland to an address on Churchill-Hubbard Road in Liberty Township in February 2025.

How they ended up at two vacant properties now remains a mystery.

On Thursday, after 21 News learned of the additional pallets in Austintown, a 21 news reporter headed to the location and was confronted by a man outside the vacant facility who questioned why a crew there was asking about the expired supplies located there.

A source told 21 News that a local trucking company had been trying to allegedly sell the supplies and the source was approached a couple times earlier in the year to buy the PPE.

When 21 News reached out to owner of the trucking company, he confirmed the supplies were indeed his and said he had purchased the PPE through an auction. 

He said that the items were stolen from him but added he had no idea of how the PPE supplies got to the these locations, but wouldn't explain how he knew where to find the missing goods.

After 21 News made calls regarding the Chinese PPE supplies, all pallets were gone by Friday morning.

The local trucking company owner told 21 News his company picked up the stolen pallets overnight.

Liberty Police say no theft report was ever filed.