A Dearborn man was instrumental in the recent arrest of a 17-year-old girl accused of stealing a sweatshirt from a parked car at Kroger, 26400 Ford.
Police said the man called 911 about 1 p.m. Jan. 11 and reported that a girl was rifling through the glove box and center console of a yellow unspecified model Jeep. He told police she eventually got out of the Jeep with some clothing and went back to a nearby 1999 Mercury Sable.
Shortly thereafter, an older man with white hair got into the Sable and the car began to pull away, he said. The witness ran into the store to inform management and then began to pursue the Sable east on Ford Road.
The witness said he eventually caught up to the car and advised the driver that he had called police about the apparent theft, and that it would be best to return to the store. But the driver continued on.
Because the witness obtained the Sable’s license plate number, police were able to contact its registered owner. The owner told police her husband and daughter were in the car and said she would have her daughter return to the store within a half hour. But the girl never showed, prompting police to pay a house call to her residence on Beaver.
Police said it was apparent the girl never intended to return to the store when she told them she thought the car belonged to a school friend who works there and upon whom she was playing a practical joke. Store managers confirmed that the friend works at the store, but said he drives a different vehicle.
Police arrested the girl for breaking and entering an automobile. The clothing – a $30 hooded sweatshirt – was recovered and returned to the owner.