Allen Park
ID fraud used to get health care
A medically uninsured 45-year-old Plymouth woman was arraigned in 24th District Court and released Monday for impersonation and prescription fraud.
Police said Denise Marie Watkins had used another person’s identification and health insurance card to seek medical care at Park Urgent Care, 15101 Southfield Road, on three or more prior occasions. She had paid the $20 office visit co-pay each time.
When arrested March 27, Watkins said she used another person’s ID because she did not have her own health insurance.
Drunken driver found with gun
A .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun with two rounds in the magazine but was found under the seat of a drunken driver early last Sunday. The rounds were not inside the chamber.
An officer on patrol saw a driver in a Dodge Neon drift into the left lane of Southfield Road three times, and to the right of the lane, nearly striking the curb several times.
After the officer initiated a traffic stop, the driver, a 44-year-old Trenton man, failed verbal field sobriety tests. He was handcuffed and taken to police headquarters, where he registered a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol level twice on breath tests. A percentage of 0.08 is considered legally intoxicated under Michigan law.
The man was released to Wayne County officials Tuesday.
Melvindale
Illegal immigrant caught with cannabis
Illegally tinted windows and possible crash damage observed on a passing car triggered a traffic stop Sunday that revealed an illegal immigrant with cannabis.
The driver also was fraudulently in possession of the identification of a person wanted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The 30-year-old Hispanic man, who was living in Detroit, was detained when he returned for the impounded black 1992 Cadillac. The man admitted to using the identity of a friend in Mexico to obtain a Michigan driver’s license.
Agents from Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement informed local police that they would handle the case and pursue a fraud charge.
Marital status no laughing matter
A 28-year-old Allen Park resident reportedly upset over his impending divorce was escorted home by police March 23 after residents saw him inhaling nitrous oxide in a parked car in the 24000 block of Outer Drive.
Seventy containers and a canister were found in his car. Officials forwarded case details to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for charges.
Riverview
Caller tries to scam senior
A Riverview woman filed a fraud complaint about 3:30 p.m. last Sunday when a caller asked her to transfer 1 percent of her alleged $500,000 second-place winnings in a mail-in contest in order to receive her prize winning check.
The woman became suspicious when the caller told her to “hang up if anyone else in the company called her.”
When an officer called the contact phone number given to the woman, the caller made a profane suggestion and hung up.
Car disappears
A light blue 2002 Chrysler Sebring was stolen between 6 and 11 p.m. Tuesday from the parking lot from Riverview Co-op Apartments.
Copper con
Copper valued at $350 and ballast valued at $250 were reported stolen March 26 by the co-owner of Nova Electric, 2625 Riverview Drive, who thought he sold the scrap metal on March 8 to a Clawson buyer.
The would-be purchaser, who filled the bed of a blue 2010 Ford pickup with the materials, said he would buy more salvage items after he unloaded the first truckload at his business. However, he never returned and never paid for the materials he took.
The buyer promised repeatedly over the phone to pay for the materials. However, his stories were inconsistent, and his victim finally accepted the fact that he’d been defrauded.
Wyandotte
Squatter robs unwitting host
Burglary and a break-in were reported March 27 by the owner of an apartment building in the 2400 block of Eighth.
The building owner said an unidentified person had been sleeping in the basement intermittently for the past two weeks.
The day of the report he noticed power tools valued at $350 missing from a storage closet there.
Niece’s actions not so great
Guardians of an 86-year-old Wyandotte man who recently was moved to a nursing home reported March 26 that multiple credit cards were fraudulently obtained in his name by his great-niece and used to purchase approximately $10,000 in merchandise.
Before the other relatives realized what she was doing, the 32-year-old Taylor woman had the man’s mail forwarded to her address and began applying for credit cards in his name using her address.
The woman obtained at least two gas cards, a bank charge card, a clothing store charge card and a department store charge.
The man’s guardians were advised to close the charge accounts, flag his personal information with the credit bureaus and follow up with detectives for criminal prosecution.