Allen Park
Man seen with saw blades
Eight packs of reciprocating saw blades were on the shoplifting list of a 42-year-old Detroit man at Home Depot, 3163 Fairlane Drive, at 4 p.m. Tuesday when loss prevention personnel detained him.
Police arrested the man, who had multiple other outstanding warrants.
Hospitalized man’s television taken
A 32-inch flat screen television valued at $580 was taken from a man’s apartment between 2 p.m. May 13 and 12 p.m. May 15 while he was in the hospital for medical treatment.
The apartment was locked when he left and when he returned.
His roommate, who is behind in his share of the rent and faces eviction, has a key to the apartment and has been unreachable. There were no witnesses.
Sunroof shattered
The sunroof of a red 2007 Cadillac Escalade was shattered sometime between 11 p.m. May 15 and 9:20 a.m. last Sunday in the 17000 block of Keppen.
Nothing was taken from the car, and it appeared to have no steering wheel damage.
The owner said his car was broken into two months prior through a driver’s-side window. Then the car was ransacked and the steering wheel damaged, but nothing was taken.
Confronted shoplifters caught, then run away
Two Taylor men, ages 22 and 25, were detained temporarily by a manager at King Video, 18626 Ecorse Road, at 11:30 p.m. Monday before escaping on foot before police arrived.
The manager said the men had entered the store earlier at 4:30 p.m. and had behaved suspiciously, looking around at everything without purchasing anything.
When they returned at 11:30, one acted as lookout while the other opened a package and concealed a video game in his waistband.
The manager stopped them from leaving with the unpaid game cartridge. They then returned what they had concealed in their clothing and fled on foot.
Police will review video surveillance footage of the men.
Dearborn Heights
Neighbor confronts burglar
A pair of burglars made off with two grass trimmers and a box fan from a shed in the 6300 block of Heyden despite a confrontation with a neighbor about 3:20 p.m. May 13.
The neighbor told police he noticed a strange car backing into the driveway next door, which caused him to investigate. When he approached the 1990s faded gold or beige Honda, a man emerged from a shed at the rear of the house carrying the stolen items.
The driver of the vehicle, a heavyset white female in her early 20s, tried to motion the neighbor to come to the driver’s-side window, but he stood in front of the car and asked what they were doing. As the male suspect loaded the equipment into the car, he told the neighbor he knew the owner of the house, but the neighbor didn’t buy it. He punched the hood of the car and told them to stay put.
But when the male suspect got into the car, he yelled, “Go! Go! Go!” and the driver took off over the lawn, nudging the neighbor in the process.
Police contacted the homeowner, who said that the man matched the description of a drug-addicted former friend who has a history of property crimes.
Brothers arrested for killing wandering pit bull
Police arrested two brothers for fatally shooting a pit bull that wandered into their front yard in the 26300 block of Pennie about 9:45 p.m. May 15.
Officers arrived on the scene to find the bloody, lifeless dog lying in the intersection of Pennie and Bayham. The brothers – ages 30 and 36 – approached the officers and denied the shooting. Police detained them and proceeded to interview witnesses, who told a different story.
Two neighbors who said they saw everything said one of the brothers shot the dog with a shotgun, which sent the dog to the ground. The other brother then walked up with a handgun, shot the dog in the head, picked up the body and threw it into the street, they said.
When the officers questioned the brothers about the conflicting accounts, they said they were just trying to protect their own pit bull. Subsequently both men were arrested for animal cruelty.
The owner of the dead dog also received two tickets; one for animal at large and one for having an unlicensed pit bull.
Lincoln Park
Watch, MP3 pulled from car
A wristwatch and an MP3 player were taken between midnight and 1 a.m. last Sunday from a 2001 Toyota Celica parked in the 2900 block of Green.
A 7-inch DVD/CD screen was damaged in the process.
The watch is value at $100 and the player at $250. Damage to the video unit is estimated at $1,400.
Equipment shows up in neighbor’s yard
A sprayer and two ladders were taken sometime before 9 a.m. Tuesday from a back yard in the 1500 block of Pingree.
The sprayer and one of the ladders were found in a neighbor’s yard, but the neighbor told police she didn’t know how the items got there. Police returned them to the owner.
The other ladder is valued at $200.
Melvindale
Woman escapes with sprays
A woman allegedly fled Rite Aid, 4016 Oakwood Blvd. at 8:15 p.m. Monday without paying for an unknown number of men’s body spray containers.
A store employee described the woman as white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, with brown hair in a pony tail and wearing a green jacket.
The woman last was seen getting into a white sport utility vehicle. The employee provided police with a vehicle description and possible plate number.
Officers checked the address associated with the possible plate number but did not find a white SUV or any similar vehicle at the location.
Vehicle gets unwanted paint job
Orange and green paint was sprayed on the doors, rear panels and hood of a vehicle parked in the driveway in the 2700 block of Margaret at 1 a.m. Wednesday.
The damage was reported by the mother of the vehicle’s owner, who was not home when the family dog began barking.
The yard also was strewn with toilet paper.
Would-be thief picks wrong van
Local officers arrived at the 24100 block of Outer Drive near Henry at 6 a.m. Wednesday upon hearing of a man holding a suspected car thief at gunpoint.
They arrived to find an off-duty Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy holding a 42-year-old Detroit man, who he said he had found inside his van attempting to steal it.
A search of the suspect uncovered a screwdriver and razor knife in his hip pocket.
Riverview
Thief gets new directions
A Global Positioning System unit was stolen from a 2009 Lincoln MKZ between 4 and 4:30 p.m. May 9 in the 19000 block of Brandywine.
The resident was washing his vehicle in his driveway when a flower delivery arrived and he went inside for a half hour. When he came back out, he noticed the center console ajar, but didn’t notice the GPS was missing until May 12.
Vandal may appear on video
The identity of a political yard sign vandal may be revealed if his facial image was caught clearly enough on the homeowner’s surveillance video.
A resident of the 17000 block of Devonshire told police his surveillance video shows a man about 4 a.m. May 9 being dropped off by a Wyandotte Yellow Cab on Poplar not far from his house.
The suspect placed a cell phone call while approaching the house, using the phone to shield his face. The suspect continued trying to shield his face while defacing the sign with spray paint.
Southgate
Shed relieved of yard goods
Several yard implements were taken between May 9 and 14 from a shed in the 12800 block of Balsam.
Police said though there were no signs of forced entry, the lock obviously was defeated. Entry to the yard likely was made through a gate to an adjoining yard, they said.
Missing were a lawn mower valued at $550, a snowblower ($620) and two chain saws ($500 and $190).
Laptop, stereo removed
A laptop computer and an in-dash stereo/navigation system were discovered missing just after 6:30 a.m. May 14 from a 2008 GMC Yukon.
The passenger-side window and mirror were broken out. The laptop is valued at $500, the stereo/navigation system at $600.
Taylor
Jewelry disappears quickly
A house in the 22000 block of Champaign was robbed in just a half hour May 11.
The resident told police he left about 1:30 p.m. and returned at 2 p.m. to find that his wife’s gold jewelry, some change and some medication were stolen.
Police said a jewelry box had been ransacked and did not list a value for the missing items.
Tailgates taken
Tailgates were stolen last weekend from three trucks parked at TruGreen lawn care, 22200 Pennsylvania.
Side mirrors also were taken off one of the trucks, and its battery cable was cut.
Value of the missing items is unknown.
Trenton
Man allegedly assaulted in bed
A 37-year-old resident of the 2300 block of Third told police that his ex-girlfriend attacked him about 8:30 a.m. May 14 as he was lying in bed with his date.
The ex-girlfriend, a 45-year-old Taylor resident, came into his room and began yelling obscenities at him before striking him on the left side of his face and neck.
The victim told police his alleged attacker was on her way to work as a U.S. Border Patrol officer and was in full uniform and carrying a weapon in the holster she was wearing.
Slide lands boy in hospital
An 11-year-old boy was injured just before 1 p.m. May 15 at Slocum-Truax Park while playing pickle with a friend after a league baseball game.
As he slid into a base, he hit his leg on a hard steel object that was barely protruding from the ground. He was taken by firefighters to Oakwood Southshore Medical Center.
The father placed a white bucket over the object to prevent others from injury.
Bonfire attendee’s room cleaned out
About $1,600 worth of items were taken May 15 from the bedroom of a 16-year-old boy in the 3900 block of Aspen.
The boy had gone to a friend’s house for a bonfire about 9:15 p.m. and returned about 11 to find that the blind to the family room window was lying on the ground. He opened his bedroom door and noticed glass all over the floor, and that his video game and other electronic equipment was missing.
The boy then returned downstairs and saw the family room window had been broken out and called police.
They found a landscape rock on the floor there that was used to break the window.
Missing items included two video game systems valued at $150 and $300, a docking station ($130), headphones ($50), $600 worth of video games, an MP3 player ($200) and a pair of tennis shoes ($100).
Detectives noted that several of the children at the bonfire knew the boy’s parents were not home that evening.
Wyandotte
Foreclosed resident retrieves possessions
A resident whose house was foreclosed allegedly cut a gate lock and broke into his former garage the afternoon of May 15 to retrieve an 8-foot snowplow and a 5-foot-by-8-foot box trailer used for landscaping.
A neighbor recognized the former resident’s vehicle parked in the driveway of the house in the 800 block of Lincoln when the new owner was not on site.
Siding reportedly was damaged when the former resident allegedly removed the items from the garage.
The new homeowner said the property became hers when she bought the house and its contents a month ago.
Illegal dumping caught
A contractor working on waterproofing the foundation of a house in the 600 block of Cora about 5:30 p.m. Monday admitted to dumping dirt, clay and rock at empty lots near Alfred and North Drive, as well as Alfred and Bondie.
Residents reported each violation to police. One resident followed the dumper to the work site from which the dirt originated.
The contractor was cited for illegal dumping and also may be required to remove the dirt, clay and rocks he dumped on the vacant lots.