Dearborn
Hot drill bit blamed in house fire
Authorities are blaming a hot drill bit as the cause of a house fire in the 4700 block of Westland about 2 p.m. Dec. 16.
Police were dispatched there after the owner, who was not at home, reported the fire. He told police his 19-year-old daughter was there with her younger sister coloring pictures on the first floor when they noticed a strange smell coming from a nearby bedroom. When she opened the door, she found the room filled with smoke and they evacuated.
The homeowner told police he had a satellite dish installed on his roof about an hour before the fire was reported. Fire investigators determined that the fire was started by friction from the installer’s drill bit.
The fire originated in an upstairs wall and worked its way down, authorities said. Firefighters contained the blaze after cutting a hole in the roof, but not before enough damage had occurred that the family could not stay there.
Woman punches, pepper sprays worker
A loss prevention worker at Home Depot, 5951 Mercury, suffered swelling and bruising to his right eye when he allegedly was attacked while detaining a shoplifter about 1 p.m. Dec. 18.
The man told police he saw a woman place a $200 shower assembly in a backpack and then walk past all cash registers toward the exit. When he confronted her, she punched him in the face as she struggled to escape his grasp, he said.
As they tussled, the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a can of pepper spray, which she then used to spray the man. Police arrived shortly thereafter.
The woman, a 49-year-old Detroiter, was arrested for unarmed robbery.
Dearborn Heights
Dog becomes part of loot
A burglary in the 25900 block of Annapolis Dec. 19 netted the culprit $500 in gold jewelry, three plasma TVs, about $1,500 cash and a small white dog.
The residents called police when they returned home a little after midnight Dec. 20 and found a bedroom window broken and the house ransacked. Police found several fingerprints at the house that appeared to be consistent with a gloved hand.
Man narrowly escapes carjacking in own driveway
A man and his 7-year-old son nearly were carjacked in their driveway in the 21500 block of Hickorywood about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 18.
The man told police he was waiting for his car to warm up when he noticed a man with a gun in his hand approaching the vehicle from behind. He said he began to reverse out of the driveway, but as he was moving, the suspect hit the passenger window with the butt of his gun.
The man said he continued to drive, and as he pulled away saw the would-be carjacker rack the gun.
The suspect is described as a black man, about 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall weighing 230 pounds. At the time of the incident he was wearing a knit cap, dark hooded sweatshirt or jacket and baggy blue jeans.