Allen Park
Shoplifter was on heroin
A man suspected of shoplifting in the past selected three separate men’s shirts at T.J. Maxx, 3320 Fairlane Drive, and placed them in a neat pile in the back of the store about 7:41 p.m. May 21.
He exited the store and went to the parking lot while on his cell phone and, moments later, a 27-year-old woman picked up the three items and placed them in her purse. She walked out of the store and began running through the parking lot toward a rust-colored Pontiac Grand Am when a loss prevention officer identified herself.
Upon reaching the vehicle, it drove to the nearby Famous Hamburger parking lot and the man ran into the restaurant and out the back door before police could apprehend him. The woman began walking toward the restaurant entrance when she was apprehended by an officer after failing to comply with instructions to get on the ground.
When her purse was searched, a heroin spoon and needle were discovered and she admitted to using heroin four hours prior. The stolen items were found in the vehicle. Upon her arrest, the woman also provided two false names and two false birthdays to officers. She also had several prior convictions for larceny, so she is being held by police for further review.
Dearborn
Brazen robber hits bank
Roughly $4,000 was stolen about 9:30 a.m. May 22 in an armed robbery at Charter One Bank, 13606 Michigan Ave.
According to reports, a man walked up to the teller’s window closest to the building’s main entrance at Michigan and Schaefer, saying he needed to make a deposit. As the teller went to hand him a deposit slip he stopped her and said, “Give me all your money and don’t pull any alarms. No dye packs either, or my boys will come back and shoot you.”
As he issued his demands, he raised his shirt to show her a silver handgun tucked into his waistband, she said.
After retrieving all of the money in her drawer, the man moved to the next teller station and made the same demand once again. The teller, who already had pressed a silent alarm and was servicing a customer when the robbery began, started stuffing the cash from her drawer into the suspect’s nylon bag.
As he waited for the teller to finish, the suspect told the customer who was in line to give up all of his money. The customer handed over about $100.
When the suspect got the bag back, he fled on foot north on Schaefer. A customer who witnessed the robbery followed the suspect out of the bank, but lost track of him when he turned west into the parking lot of the closed Kroger supermarket.
Witnesses described the suspect as a black man, standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and between 25 and 30 years old. At the time of the robbery he had a mustache and was wearing blue wind pants with white stripes on the legs, white sneakers with dark laces, a dark-colored pullover or zip-up jacket and carrying a dark-colored drawstring bag.
Dearborn Heights
Suspected burglar busted
Police caught an 18-year-old Detroit man suspected of trying to burglarize a house in the 26200 block of Van Buren at about 9 a.m. May 18.
Officers stopped the suspect vehicle at Joy and Inkster roads after receiving a description from the resident, who was in his house when the man allegedly tried to break in.
The driver of the vehicle told police he had just been in the area dropping off his buddy’s girlfriend, who lives on Van Buren. While his buddy – the passenger – walked her to her house, he was talking on his cell phone, he said.
Police drove the homeowner to the site of the traffic stop and the homeowner confirmed that the passenger was the person who had attempted to break in to his house. The man was subsequently arrested.
Police also arrested the driver because he didn’t have an operator’s license.
Former employee robs store
A former employee at Salvation Army, 8525 Telegraph, allegedly stole $265 from an open cash register at the store, about 8 p.m. May 22.
A manager told police she was ringing up customers when the 38-year-old Inkster man, looking rough and unkempt, walked up to her. She asked him how he was doing, to which he said he was in trouble and needed her to call his mom.
As she went back to ringing the customer in line, the suspect reached across the counter and attempted to grab money from the open drawer, she said. When she covered the drawer with her hand, he said, “What are you doing? You don’t need this.”
He then grabbed her by the arm and pushed her shoulder, giving him the opportunity to grab a handful of cash before fleeing out the door. A nearby patrol car spotted the man shortly thereafter and he was arrested for unarmed robbery.
Lincoln Park
Garage heist nets big haul
Equipment with a value totaling almost $13,000 was discovered missing about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday from a garage in the 1500 block of Capitol.
Police found no signs of forced entry. The owner said the garage may have been left unlocked, and that he last saw the items about 9 p.m. the night before.
Among the loot were two dryers valued at $350 each, two dehumidifiers ($1,100 each), a leaf blower ($125), a power carpet stretcher ($550), a drill ($100), a floor buffer ($1,000) and accessories ($300).
Melvindale
Street fight broken up
Officers responded to a fight in the road on the 2300 block of Fisher Avenue at 7:54 p.m. last Sunday. Witnesses said a 30-year-old man had hit another man in the head with a rock, climbed on top of him and punched him while a 27-year-old woman kicked the man on the ground.
A marijuana cigarette also was found in the 30-year-old man’s pocket. Both the man and the woman were arrested.
Stolen car found stripped
A stripped stolen vehicle was recovered on the 17000 block of Raupp last Tuesday. Upon starting their shift and reading the recovery report, the officer recalled a garage on Clarann, near Schaefer, that had been used as a “chop shop” several years ago.
Upon inspecting the area of the potential chop shop, the officer located a black Honda Civic with a stripped steering column parked behind an apartment building. The vehicle had no license plate, but a records check showed the vehicle was stolen out of Ann Arbor. The officer had the vehicle impounded.
Riverview
Radio hanging out
A gold 1988 Lincoln Mark VII on the 14000 block of Brookview was found at 9:45 a.m. May 20 with its door ajar. Upon inspection by the owner, the door lock and ignition were both damaged beyond use and its radio was removed from the dashboard and hanging from its wires.
Nothing was taken from the vehicle and there are no suspects.
Sound system stolen
The rear passenger window of a green 1999 Ford Explorer was broken and three items were stolen from the vehicle between 11 p.m. May 15 and 7:20 p.m. May 17 while the owner left it parked at the 14000 block of Parkview over the weekend.
Taken from the vehicle were a radio, 12-inch subwoofer with an amplifier and a starter kit.
Southgate
Stereo, GPS unit swiped
A combination stereo and Global Positioning System unit was taken between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. last Sunday from a 2007 GMC Yukon parked in the 13100 block of Mulberry.
The rear passenger-side window had been broken out and wires were hanging from the console. The unit was valued at $4,000.
Equipment removed from company trailer
Several pieces of yard equipment and tools were taken before 3 p.m. Tuesday from a trailer in the yard of Downriver Door and Window, 13536 Dix-Toledo.
Taken were two blowers with a combined value of $1,200, an air compressor ($50), two chain saws ($1,200 combined value), a $500 weed trimmer and a $200 edger.
Taylor
House robbed of jewelry, cash
A resident of the 25100 block of Champaign returned to her house about 6 p.m. May 17 to find that it had been broken into.
A northwest bedroom window was broken out, and glass was lying all over the room. A bedroom chest, a dresser and the bottom of a closet all had been ransacked.
Missing items included miscellaneous jewelry valued at between $6,000 and $7,000, $7,000 in cash and $1,000.
Police found no recoverable fingerprints.
Ousted renter may have damaged house
A disgruntled renter may have been responsible for damage found just before noon May 15 at a house in the 23000 block of Wick.
The owner had checked the house May 9 after the renter moved out and found it intact.
When she returned six days later, however, police said she found holes in walls, spray painting, a broken toilet and standing water on the floors.
No damage estimates were reported.
Trenton
Video session leads to man’s arrest
Witnesses reported that a suspicious man sitting in a truck about 4:30 p.m. May 19 at Splasher’s Car Wash, 2375 Fort St., was recording video of a woman next to him who was cleaning her vehicle.
Police arrived to find a 36-year-old resident sitting in a white Chevrolet truck parked next to a woman who was cleaning her vehicle. The man said he was there to clean his own truck and denied recording video of the woman.
A check of his record showed he had four outstanding warrants for his arrest, two from Romulus, one from Southgate and one from Clinton Township. He was turned over to Romulus police.
Police bring toddler home
Police were called about 12:30 a.m. May 19 to a condominium in the 1300 block of Harbour on report of a small child walking around between buildings without parents or family.
A witness told police the 20-month-old boy was walking through the grass near her condominium alone wearing only wet, muddy socks and a diaper. She said she tried walking him around to other buildings hoping he would recognize or point to where he lived.
Police checked a building that had a first-floor deck with several child’s toys on it. The deck’s gate was open, and they knocked on the sliding glass door and asked if a small child lived there.
A man came to the door and answered affirmatively. Two adults were asleep on the floor, one of whom was a woman who told police her son had been watching television with her.They turned the boy over to his mother.
Wyandotte
Underage drunken driver crashes
A 19-year-old Indiana resident was found walking north on 11th Street near Pine at 5:39 a.m. last Sunday, shortly after an automobile accident occurred and was abandoned at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Road.
Upon approaching the man, the officer observed blood on the man’s left arm, shirt and his shorts and shoes were soaking wet. The man said he had drunk nine 24-ounce beers earlier, one of which was found at the crash scene. He man registered a 0.11 percent blood-alcohol content; 0.08 is the legal limit in Michigan. The man then was taken into custody.
Peeping tom caught in basement
A 44-year-old woman was blow drying her hair in her bathroom on Second Street about 7:56 a.m. May 21 when she noticed a man without pants pressed up against the window of the house next door while masturbating.
When police arrived, there was no response at the house next door, which was monitored until a search warrant was obtained. Upon entry, police found two Hispanic males hiding in the basement, ages 21 and 38. Both were determined to be illegal aliens.
The 21-year-old did not speak any English, but the 38-year-old man confirmed they were the only two home all day. Due to their height difference, it was determined the 21-year-old man was the one standing against the window, so he was arrested for indecent exposure.
(Compiled by Chris Jackett, J. Patrick Pepper and Tom Tigani.)