By TOM TIGANI
Sunday Times
LINCOLN PARK —Two men are facing charges in a string of recent burglaries within the city.
John Nesbitt and Barry Herborn, both 31 years old city residents, were arraigned last weekend. Nesbitt is charged with narcotics possession, Herborn with burglary. Both face preliminary examinations of the charges against them on Tuesday in 25th District Court.
Much of the property stolen in the home invasions of which they are suspected has been recovered, police said. Some was in the silver 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix they were driving when police caught up with them and some was at their house on Ford Boulevard.
Even more was found in the Ecorse Creek, where they had been hiding much of the jewelry they allegedly took.
Additional charges are being prepared, police said, and detectives are hoping to arraign Nesbitt and Herborn in the other home invasions Tuesday. The two are being held in Wayne County Jail.
They were arrested April 22 after police patrolling Wilson saw a silver Grand Prix headed east on Leblanc and recognized the vehicle from the home invasion reports.
Nesbitt had warrants outstanding for his arrest, as did Herborn, so police stopped them, ordered them out of the car and told them to lie on the ground. Nesbitt complied, but Herborn took off running through a back yard.
Backup arrived and found Herborn riding a bicycle east on Ford. They ordered him to stop, but he got off the bike and ran before finally officers could stop and restrain him on a lawn in front of a residence.
He was carrying a small bag of marijuana, a large amount of cash and woman’s wedding band, police said. Meanwhile, Nesbitt at the police station was found to have four small packets of paper containing a substance that tested positive as heroin.
The two had been living in the basement of their mother’s house with Nesbitt’s girlfriend, who wrote a statement for police saying they had been leaving in the morning and returning with heroin.
A large amount of jewelry was found in a pillowcase in the trunk of the car, along with a digital camera, and a white box of jewelry was found in the glove box.
Nesbitt is linked to 15 offenses, including 10 in Lincoln Park and three in Southgate. Herborn is linked to 12, eight in Lincoln Park and others in Southgate and Wyandotte.
Detectives are asking that any additional witnesses who may have seen suspicious circumstances in their neighborhood involving the silver Grand Prix or the two suspects to call (313) 381-8378.
There are other known groups of home invasion suspects that police are pursuing actively, and police say vigilant neighbors are a key asset in catching and convicting such offenders.