Lincoln Park
Would-be gas thief spotted in time
Police were called about 10:30 p.m. last Sunday to Calder Dairy, 1020 Southfield Road, on word that a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt was siphoning gasoline out of company trucks.
They arrived and saw a man matching the description jumping a fence behind a nearby store. He then made his way east to a back yard on Ferris, where he jumped another fence into a yard on Marion as soon as an officer entered the first back yard.
The officer caught up with the man as he was walking along Southfield in front of an auto repair shop, where he told them he was on his way home from a girlfriend’s house.
Police checked and found he had a rapid heartbeat, which he attributed to being nervous. However, another patrol car brought the witness who spotted the man initially, and she confirmed he was the one who tried to steal the gas.
Police then arrested him for attempted theft from a motor vehicle.
Early cable service interrupted
Police were called about 6 a.m. Nov. 14 to an apartment complex at 1369 Fort St. on word that a suspicious person wearing all dark clothing was tampering with a cable TV box on the west side of the building.
They arrived to find the box had been pried open and damaged, and that some wires had been moved around.
A man at the scene matched a witness description and was found to be carrying a flashlight, a multitool wrench and a 16-inch cable splicer. Police arrested him for trying to steal cable.
Southgate
Art set ablaze at motel
An employee cleaning just before 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Suburban Motel, 12269 Dix, smelled smoke and walked into one of the rooms to find that picture had been removed from a wall, set on fire and left inside a box.
The employee said she saw the man who rented the room walk out to the parking lot about the same time and get into a red minivan before heading north on Dix.
Banquet center patrons lose spare tires
Spare tires were removed from a 2006 Honda CR-V and a 1997 Chevrolet Trailblazer at about 3 p.m. Nov. 14 at Crystal Gardens Banquet Center.
The tires were attached to the rear doors of the respective vehicles.
Taylor
Tools cleaned out of garage
Numerous tools, a compressor, a toolbox and some gasoline were taken between 12:30 p.m. Nov. 9 and 7 p.m. Nov. 10 from a garage in the 8800 block of Rosella. The garage’s front door had been forced off its track in order to gain entry, police said.
Thief monitored by employees
Police were called Monday afternoon to Meijer, 14640 Pardee Road, on word that a balding white man had just shoplifted a television monitor.
An employee said the man had used a bandage to attach the monitor to his chest and tried to walk out of the store. Police arrived and could see the outline of the monitor covered by bandages under his shirt.
He was carrying a set of pliers and a screwdriver, which police believe he used to remove the monitor he had with him, which was valued at $430. They said another monitor attached to a shelf was damaged in an attempt to remove it.
The man has tried to steal from the store before, employees said.
Trenton
GPS unit, DVDs lost, then found
A resident of the 3400 block of Edison found a Global Positioning System unit on the front seat of his van about 7:30 a.m. Nov. 14.
A metal case of children’s DVDs and $5 in change was taken from the van, which was parked in his driveway. The GPS unit had been taken from a vehicle parked in his neighbor’s driveway.
The thefts occurred between 1:30 and 5 a.m. that day. The case and DVDs were found on the sidewalk two houses south.
Woman buys booze for drunken couple
A 22-year-old Rockwood woman who works at McDonald’s, 1581 Van Horn Road, told police that just after 5 p.m. Monday she was forced to buy liquor for a couple living in the 4500 block of West Jefferson.
The woman was leaving work and about to get into her truck in the parking lot the restaurant shares with Riviera Market, 4500 W. Jefferson, when she was approached by the couple, a 53-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman. They had just been refused by a store clerk in an attempt to buy liquor because they were intoxicated, police said, and demanded that the Rockwood woman buy for them.
The intoxicated woman then got in the Rockwood woman’s truck and reiterated her demand, and the driver complied, saying she feared her unwanted passenger would do her harm if she didn’t. The driver at first drove to the Riviera Market, but the clerk saw the intoxicated woman in the truck and refused to sell to the driver.
The driver then got back in her truck and drove with the intoxicated woman to a store in Gibraltar, where she bought liquor for the couple.
Police knocked on the door of the couple’s apartment about two hours later. The intoxicated woman said she and her husband knew the Rockwood woman from the restaurant and that they didn’t force her to do anything.
A Riviera Market stock boy said the man threatened to kill him because the clerk refused to sell liquor to the couple.