Allen Park
Bicycle, strollers and child’s red wagon missing
A boy’s bicycle valued at $65, two strollers with a combined value of $100 and a $50 red wagon were stolen between noon and 4 p.m. May 7 from an apartment complex in the 16000 block of Champaign.
The items were under a staircase in an unlocked hallway that leads to one of the buildings.
The items’ owner said he is behind on his rent but not yet facing eviction, and that his paid-up electrical power also was disrupted. The utility company confirmed his account was paid in full.
The tenant was unsure if the theft and power outage are related. The landlord said he was not in the building on the day of the events.
GPS, phone system and power tools taken
Electronics and tools were taken sometime overnight Wednesday from a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country minivan parked on Philomene near Rosedale.
The driver’s-side window was discovered broken at 8:30 a.m. A built-in Global Positioning System unit and telephone were stolen, along with two bags of power tools valued at $1,000.
Dearborn
Purse snatcher drags woman through parking lot
A 46-year-old woman was dragged next to a car for about 50 yards while the passenger tried to steal her purse at Wal-Mart, 5851 Mercury Drive, about 10 a.m. May 9.
Store surveillance footage showed a late-1990s model dark blue Mercury Grand Marquis pull up next to the woman as she walked to her car from the store. Through the window of the car, the passenger grabbed the purse and the driver then accelerated.
With the purse slung over her shoulder and tucked between her arm and torso, it became entangled and the woman was dragged across the parking lot until the suspect finally released the purse. Police reported that the woman suffered several abrasions to her neck, left leg and back, but refused transport to a hospital.
Both suspects are described as black men in their early 20s.
Wrong tune results in sister’s assault
A 30-year-old Dearborn Heights man was arrested on multiple offenses after he allegedly assaulted his sister and their ride home from the bar about 2:40 a.m. May 9.
The victim, a 34-year-old Heights woman, told police that the trio was on their way back from a west side nightclub when an argument began over a song that was playing on the radio. She said her brother demanded to be let out of the car near Monroe and Notre Dame. As he was exiting the car, he punched her in the left eye and then forced the front seat forward so that she was pinned up against the dashboard, she said.
The driver, a 34-year-old Heights man, then exited the vehicle and pursued the suspect. As he approached him, the brother pulled out a can of pepper spray, which he sprayed at the man’s face. While the driver struggled to wipe the irritant from his eyes, the woman exited the car and approached her brother, who punched her again in the left eye before fleeing on foot. As a result of the punches, the woman’s eye was completely swollen shut and a deep, half-inch cut was opened above her eye.
Dearborn and Dearborn Heights police caught up with the suspect at the house he shares with his sister in the 5600 block of Clippert. When they arrived, the man attempted to flee through the back door, but was apprehended after a brief pursuit.
Dearborn Heights
Man comes home to burglary
A resident of the 27100 block of Doxtator came home to find a burglary in progress about 5:15 p.m. May 10.
The man said when he arrived there was a white Ford Windstar parked in his driveway that he didn’t recognize. When an acquaintance he was with went around the back of the house, he saw the suspect inside. The suspect noticed that he was being watched and proceeded to walk out of the house through the back door, which he apparently damaged during the break-in.
The suspect told the witness that he was only visiting a friend. The witness responded by telling the homeowner to call police and ordering the suspect to sit down on the ground. The suspect disregarded the order, however, and got into the Windstar before fleeing.
Police discovered two pillowcases stuffed with miscellaneous items inside the house. The house’s bedrooms had been ransacked, but the homeowner said it appeared that nothing was missing.
Lincoln Park
Carjacker also gets cash, phone
A 38-year-old resident was carjacked just before 11:30 a.m. last Sunday at Little Caesars, 989 Southfield Road.
The robber approached the man in the parking lot and pulled a silver revolver with a white handle out of his front right pants pocket and showed it to him but did not point it at him, saying, “You know what I want.”
The resident then gave the robber his money, cell phone and car keys. The robber warned him not to go inside the business and got into the resident’s red 2010 Ford Mustang convertible and drove east on Southfield.
After the robber left, the man went inside and called police.
Cash given to the robber totaled $80 to $100; the cell phone is valued at $300 and the car at about $20,000.
The robber is described as a 6-foot 2-inch tall black man, 18 to 25 years old and wearing a black ski mask, black shirt and jeans.
Police tried to locate the phone through the service provider’s Global Positioning System, but trips to Dearborn and Riverview proved fruitless. They now are reviewing surveillance video of the incident.
Melvindale
Vehicles on same street targeted
Two vehicle related reports were filed from the 17600 block of Reed on Monday.
At about 7 a.m. a resident reported an amplifier stolen overnight from a 2000 GMC pickup while it was parked in their driveway. The owner said it was the second time the vehicle had been broken into in the last several weeks.
Another resident’s car was damaged sometime overnight. The passenger window was broken out of the vehicle, but the owner said nothing was missing.
Business doesn’t want repeat visits
Three plastic windows were damaged last week on the garage of a business in the 18700 block of Dix.
The owner said the windows were undamaged at 6:30 p.m. May 7 and that he found the damage the next morning. The owner said the windows have been broken several times in the past.
Southgate
Plumbing pilfered
Copper plumbing was discovered missing from two houses last week.
Just after 1 p.m. May 7 in the 15600 block of Richmond, an inspector doing a final walk-through before a sale noticed pipes missing from within the ceiling, from near a hot water tank and from near a wall spigot. A real estate agent said the pipes were in place May 3. The pipes are valued at about $250.
Six feet of copper pipe also was reported missing about 2 p.m. May 7 from a house in the 14700 block of Pearl. Those pipes were valued at $100 and had been installed near the furnace/laundry room.
Van cruise precedes break-in
A slow-moving white cargo van may have foretold the break-in of a garage in the 13000 block of Balsam last week.
The van was spotted driving the neighborhood the evening of May 6 with a white man in his 50s at the wheel who seemed to be looking around.
About 11 a.m. May 8, a resident found several items missing from his garage. Among them were a $200 edger, a $180 weed trimmer, an $800 snowblower, a $200 BMX bicycle, an $800 set of golf clubs, a $200 mechanic’s tool set, a $130 hedge trimmer and a tiller of unknown value.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry.
Riverview
Thief settles for coins
About $20 in coins was taken Monday afternoon during a break-in at a house in the 18000 block of Koester.
Silver dollars and state commemorative quarters were included in the loot.
The resident said he left from 1:45 to 4:20 p.m. to go to the store.
Entry apparently was gained through an unlocked patio door, which enabled the prying open of the locked back door to the house.
The resident said a white man in a black sport utility vehicle was driving slowly through the neighborhood looking at houses when he left for the store.
Flute stolen from high school
A silver flute valued at $1,600 was stolen sometime between May 6 and 7 from the music room Gabriel Richard Catholic High School, 15325 Pennsylvania Road.
Taylor
Electronics taken from trailer
An employee discovered about 9 a.m. May 4 that a trailer had been broken into at Vicar’s Trailer Sales, 9080 Pelham.
A 32-inch high-definition liquid crystal display television and a satellite radio had been removed, along with the boxes for the items.
Police found no signs of forced entry into the trailer, but saw that the northwest corner of a fence around the property had been tampered with.
Intruder spotted, disappears
Police were called about 5:30 p.m. May 6 to Masco Corp., 21001 Van Born, on word of a break-in in progress.
An employee in a warehouse at the site said he heard noises coming from the other side of a wall that divides the building and went to investigate. He said he saw a door on the south side of the building had been forced open before confronting a white man 19 or 20 years old wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, who then turned and jumped around a corner into an office area before disappearing from view.
The employee then told his dispatcher to call police.
When they arrived they found a newly broken window on a second-floor balcony leading to a roof deck. They then called firefighters, who used their ladder truck to help them gain access to the roof.
There was no sign of the alleged intruder, however.
Trenton
Credit card charges hit sour note
A 59-year-old resident of the 3100 block of Anna who recently purchased a cell phone that plays music told police May 10 that his credit card has been used to download songs he did not order.
The card has been canceled and reissued three times, he told police, but the charges continue to appear.
Company officials told him he is responsible for the charges.
The resident then asked for the computer address where the downloads were being sent, but was told he would need to subpoena the information.
Total amount of the charges is about $1,730.
Fishing trip canceled
Police were called to Edward C. Levy Co. property at West Jefferson and King Road about 8 p.m. on a trespassing complaint.
A security guard told them that a 58-year-old Detroit man had pulled his car to the rear of the property along the Detroit River, got out and began fishing.
The man told police he had seen the signs prohibiting trespassing; they then advised him to leave.
Wyandotte
Car, ID taken
A blue 2004 Kia Spectra was stolen between 9 p.m. Monday and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday from the 1100 block of First.
The vehicle contained the owner’s identification. She told police it is paid for and was locked, and that no keys were missing. No signs of forced entry were found.
Missing ID included a driver’s license, a Social Security card, Army National Guard Military ID and a nonactive discharged military police badge.
House relieved of piping
About 150 feet of copper piping was stolen last week from a house in the 3900 block of 14th.
A property maintenance supervisor reported the theft May 6.
Access was gained by breaking a rear window. Basement ceiling tiles and rails were cut to remove the pipes from the joists.
The house last was checked on April 19.