Dearborn
Cell phone thief busted
A 19-year-old Detroit man was arrested for allegedly attempting to extort sex and money to return a stolen cell phone at A & W Restaurant, 210 Town Center Drive, about 4 p.m. Feb. 21.
The phone’s owner, a 15-year-old Detroit girl, told police she sent a text message to the phone before deactivating it and the suspect replied that he wanted her to perform sexual acts on him in order to get the phone back. When she refused his demands, she said he changed tack and offered to give it back to her for $100.
Knowing that a new phone would cost three times that, she agreed to the price and they set up the meeting at the restaurant. But she called police instead, and officers were able to apprehend the suspect by using the describing information he had given to the girl. The phone was recovered and returned to the owner.
Man carjacked on Appoline
A white 2005 Range Rover was stolen at gunpoint in the 7400 block of Appoline about 8 a.m. Feb. 22.
The owner said he was walking out of his house to the sport utility vehicle, which was parked in the street, when a gray 2005 Ford Expedition stopped next to him. He said the right rear passenger window rolled down and a black man in his late teens with a semi-automatic handgun told him to drop his keys.
Fearing for his life, the man complied and ran back into his house. The gunman subsequently grabbed the Range Rover keys and both vehicles fled south.
Dearborn Heights
House fills with water, gas after pipe theft
Firefighters had to shut off the utilities to a vacant house in the 26000 block of McDonald about noon Feb. 20 after a copper pipe theft left the dwelling flooded with water and gas.
One of the house’s former residents called police when he discovered more than a foot of water in the basement and a “very strong” odor of natural gas. The former resident, a 14-year-old boy, told police he went into the house after discovering a pile of copper pipes at a neighbor’s house.
The boy said that the neighbors’ tenant was a known thief and was aware that the house was vacant, which prompted the boy to check on his old house.
Economy makes robber desperate
A man made off with $500 from The Dollar General, 27295 Warren, after telling a store cashier, “I don’t want to hurt you, but we are in a recession,” while holding his hand in a coat pocket as though he had a gun about 8:55 p.m. Feb. 19.
The suspect is described as a thin black man, about 6 feet tall, and at the time of the robbery was wearing all black clothing, including a ski mask covering his face. Police scent-tracking dogs were called to the scene but lost the trail at a nearby apartment complex.