Allen Park
Man kicks down ex’s door
A 23-year-old resident called police about 1 a.m. Tuesday to report that her ex-boyfriend, a 30-year-old River Rouge man, was in the process of breaking into her apartment in the 19300 block of Wick Road.
She said she was sleeping when he knocked on her door. She told him to leave and refused to open it, at which point he kicked the door open and tried to take her phone as she was calling 911. He fled toward Pelham Road when she began talking to police.
The woman is pregnant with the man’s child, but he never has lived at the apartment with her. Their three-year relationship ended in June and she has two other children. She wished to prosecute for illegal entry into her apartment.
Shoplifter runs to cop
A patrolling officer was called about 1 p.m. Sept. 16 to the parking lot at Meijer, 3565 Fairlane Drive, on word of a retail fraud offender who was being chased.
A store employee was pursuing a 43-year-old Detroit man through the parking lot of Home Depot, 3163 Fairlane Drive.
The officer saw the suspect running toward his patrol car while out of breath. The suspect ducked behind a car as the officer stopped to talk to him. He told police he was running because a Meijer loss prevention employee suspected him of stealing. The pursuing employee ran up as police detained the suspect.
Stolen items, which included a cable tester and impact tool with a combined value of $160, were found under the vehicle the suspect had ducked behind.
While being arrested for retail fraud, police found a syringe in the man’s right-front pants pocket. He told them he was diabetic, but he did not have any insulin with him.
During booking at the police station, a second syringe and a small plastic bag with 0.08 grams of suspected marijuana was found in the suspect’s right sock.
A records check showed the man had two warrants out of Northville for larceny and narcotic paraphernalia. Bond was set at $900.
Lincoln Park
Computer, CDs go missing
A laptop computer and five CDs were taken between 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17 and 11 a.m. Sept. 18 from a 2010 Dodge Journey in the 1400 block of Buckingham.
The vehicle was undamaged; its owner found it unlocked and the items missing. The computer is valued at $700, the CDs at a collective $200.
Apartment drug deal affects several residents
Police were called about 1:30 a.m. last Sunday to an apartment at 930 Goddard on word of three men fighting in the hallway.
A 20-year-old man said his brother-in-law had stolen television and a radio out of his apartment and tried to use them to buy drugs. The man said the brother-in-law, 25, has a substance abuse problem, and that the man was allowing him to live there in an effort to “get back on his feet.”
The 20-year-old said he was at his girlfriend’s apartment when the theft occurred, and that the brother-in-law denied taking anything. Another building resident said he helped the brother-in-law carry the items to another apartment for which he had the keys, and thought the items belonged to the brother-in-law.
The brother-in-law admitted to having a drug problem and said he stole the items and traded them for crack cocaine from another building resident he said was his drug dealer.
The brother-in-law later said he had planned to sell the items to give money to the mother of one of his children. He also said the man who helped him carry the items also helped to steal them. The helper’s girlfriend said she urged a neighbor to notify the 20-year-old man about the theft, and that she and her boyfriend smoked crack with the brother-in-law.
Neighbors eventually helped police track down a 22-year-old man they believed was the drug dealer, who was driving his car around the parking lot. He and a 29-year-old passenger, who lives with him, allowed police to search their apartment for the TV and the radio, but the items were not there, police said.
However, the two men, along with a third passenger, were arrested on varying combinations of fugitive and narcotics charges.
The television is valued at $3,000, the radio at $1,000.
Southgate
Thieves get electronics, CDs
An MP3 player, CDs and a gym bag containing clothing were discovered missing about 5:30 p.m. Monday by a resident in the 16500 block of Quarry Road.
The items had been left inside his 2005 Chrysler 300. The bag contained about $200 worth of clothing and the $200 MP3 player. About 200 CDs, with a collective value of about $2,000, also were in the car.
Police said the rubber around the passenger-side window had been damaged during the break-in.
Gym bag of valuables gone
Several items were stolen in about an hour last Sunday from a 2009 Toyota RAV4 owned by a patron at the Downriver Family YMCA, 16777 North Line Road.
A patron said she returned to the vehicle about 1 p.m. to find that six credit cards, a Social Security card, a designer purse, $80 cash and a cell phone were missing. The items were inside a gym bag.
Trenton
Robber gets cash, draws gunfire
An armed robber got away with $180 on Sept. 18 from Ron’s Par T Pak, 3800 Fort St.
The owner said a man entered the store just before 7 p.m. with a gun and demanded “all your big bills.” The owner complied, and the man left through the front door and ran south through the parking lot and west of Bridgemeadow Apartments, 3854 Fort, and got into a black Jeep Cherokee backed into a space at the south end of the lot.
The owner saw the man get inside, and the man spotted him, raised his arm toward him with what appeared to be gun in his hand. The owner, who also had a gun, fired a shot at the vehicle.
The man wore a mask over his face during the robbery but removed when he got into the vehicle. He is described as a white man in his 20s, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds.
The robber was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants in addition to the dark mask.
An employee and a customer also witnessed the incident and gave statements to police, who collected the spent casing from the owner’s gun and are reviewing store surveillance video
Taylor
Vendor’s coins disappear
Collectible coins were discovered missing about 6 p.m. Sept. 16 by a vendor at the Taylor Town Trade Center, 22525 Ecorse Road.
The coins were locked in glass cases and last were seen intact about 11 a.m. that day. They numbered between 400 and 600 and are valued at $2,000 to $3,000.
Neighborhood mailboxes targeted
Mailboxes were discovered missing Sept. 16 from several houses.
Streets reporting the vandalism included the 24000 block of Orchard, the 25600 of Filmore and the 25700 block of Melody.
In the 24600 block of Ward, a resident saw a boy about 15 years old wearing a bright yellow shirt standing between two houses that morning. The boy then walked east along the street before disappearing from view. One of the houses is for sale and was missing a lock box.
Police could not say if the boy was involved in any of the incidents.
Melvindale
Catty comments painted on car
A vehicle in the 18600 block of Hanna was damaged with spray paint about 7 p.m. last Sunday.
A man living in a house near the vehicle said his daughter had gotten into a confrontation with another woman the previous evening before parking her car across the street.
Profane names were spray painted on the right quarter panel and on the rear and trunk.
Man breaks window outside own apartment
A 24-year-old man in a white football jersey reportedly was causing a disturbance outside an apartment building in the 23900 block of Outer Drive about 1:45 a.m. last Sunday.
Upon arrival, officers saw the suspect running around the corner of the building. The front window next to the entrance door also was broken out.
Witnesses said the man had broken the window. Police observed blood on the sides of it, as well as on the hallway walls and on the door to an adjacent apartment.
A woman who exited the apartment with blood on its door declined to talk to police about what had happened.
The man was apprehended in front of a nearby church. He was covered in blood with multiple deep cuts on his left arm and legs. He was carrying the white football jersey, which was covered in blood.
The suspect apologized several times to officers for running and said breaking the glass was an accident, but that he had done so because his girlfriend was on the other side telling him she was going to find another father for his child.
The suspect lives in the apartment with the blood-covered door. He was transported to Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center to tend to his cuts, as well as arm, wrist and foot pain.
Riverview
Drunken man rear-ends police cruiser, leaves scene
A 2008 Dodge Charger Trenton police car was rear-ended about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 15 by the drunken driver of a burgundy 2000 Ford Taurus as both were headed south on West Jefferson.
The driver of the Taurus, a 24-year-old Southgate man, struck the police car just south of Bridge Road and traveled about 1/4 mile before being stopped by Riverview police. The man said he was headed home from work to Village Green Apartments, but that he had had one drink first. He told officers he was “on Dix Road somewhere in River Rouge.”
The man failed field sobriety tests and registered a 0.12 percent blood-alcohol content on a breath test. A percentage of 0.08 is considered intoxicated under state law.
The man was issued violations for operating while intoxicated, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and no proof of insurance.
A records check showed the man had an existing warrant in Wyandotte for failure to appear in court for marijuana possession. He also had seven previously ticketed traffic stops on record, leading to 12 violations and multiple license suspensions.
Offenses include disobeying traffic control, obstructed vision or control, prohibited turn, drug crime and driving with a suspended license or without a license, proof of insurance or registration.
Wyandotte
All-night bagpipe celebration silenced
Police were called about 7:30 a.m. Sept. 18 to the 1700 block of 10th to investigate a noise complaint.
Officers parked three houses away and heard the sounds of bagpipe music. The music became louder as officers approached the suspects’ house, where all doors and windows were open.
Police entered the front door threshold and ordered the music be turned off. A 32-year-old man identified himself as the homeowner and immediately complied.
He said he and his new bride were unable to afford a reception after their recent wedding, so they had a few friends over and had been partying all night. He did not realize the music was disturbing others.
The man was issued a citation for unreasonable noise. All doors and windows were closed, and all occupants went to sleep.
Unsecured weapons found in house
The search for a loiterer led police to a stash of weapons early Sept. 18.
A resident in the 1800 block of 17th called about 7:15 a.m. to report four unknown white men in the alley near his garage, and that they scattered when he confronted them.
He recognized one man – who was about 5 feet 4 inches tall, 19 years old and wearing a white hooded sweatshirt – because he spoke with him under similar circumstances a few days earlier.
The caller last saw the man walking south toward Ford Avenue while pulling on door handles of parked vehicles. Officers checked the area, but could not find the man.
Several minutes later, officers were flagged down by a resident who complained of a man wearing a white hoodie who was begging for money and pulling on door handles near 22nd Street and Ford. He was last seen crossing Ford, south of 22nd.
Officers checked the area, but were unable to find the man. One checked a few backyards on foot before noticing that the rear door of a house in the 2000 block of 22nd was unlocked and open. More officers were called to the scene, but no one was inside.
Police, however, did find three shotguns, a rifle and a compound bow unsecured and took them for safekeeping. A neighbor approached an officer and said the property owner was on the phone.
Once advised via phone of the circumstances, the owner became extremely aggravated and verbally abusive toward the officer, police said.
Dearborn
Woman robbed in front of her house
A suspected armed robber stole a purse from a 49-year-old woman shortly before midnight Aug. 20 in front of her house in the 23700 block of Marshall.
The woman told police she had just parked her car and was on her way inside when a man approached, claiming to have a gun. He told her not to look at him and demanded the purse, she said. She handed it over and the suspect fled on foot east on Marshall, then north on Highland before disappearing out of sight.
Among the items in the purse were a cell phone; $20 to $30 cash; car and house keys; personal identification; and prescription narcotics. The woman said she would need an incident report so that she could get more medication from the pain clinic, according to the report.
A perimeter search of the neighborhood using tracking dogs did not locate the suspect. When an officer said he was going to attempt to track the suspect through the signal from the woman’s cell phone, she told them she already had called to have the service shut off.
The suspect is described as a thin, white man between 18 to 22 years old. At the time of the incident he was clean-shaven, with a heavily hair-gelled crew cut. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt, jeans and gym shoes.
Woman cited for child neglect
Police ticketed a Detroit woman for child neglect about 4:45 p.m. Sept. 17 at Dollar Tree, 10830 Warren, for leaving her children in her car while she shopped inside.
A passer-by noticed the children inside the vehicle and called police. A responding officer reported finding the children – a boy, age 12, and two girls, one age 6 and the other 11 months old – sleeping in the car. Police said all of the windows were rolled up and the children were sweating.
As officers stood by the mother came outside after about 40 minutes of shopping. She said she was buying supplies for her girls’ birthday party and left the children because she didn’t want to wake them up. A check of her name by police found she had several driver’s license suspensions and open warrants.
But because of the infant, police said, they towed her car and didn’t arrest her for the warrants. They cited her for child neglect and a relative came and picked up the family.
Dearborn Heights
Woman shot in driveway
Police were dispatched to Garden City Hospital about 9:45 p.m. Sept. 17 after a 49-year-old Heights resident who was shot in the leg during an alleged robbery drove herself there for treatment.
She told police she was walking up to her house in the 5700 block of McMillan when she noticed two young men walking toward her. One demanded her purse, causing her to yell for help. The same man then pulled out a gun and shot her in the left leg before they both suspects fled on foot, she said.
The woman went inside her house, wrapped the wound and drove to the hospital, she said. It was unclear at press time whether her assailants got away with the purse.
The woman said she didn’t call 911 because everything happened too fast. She signed papers to allow police to search her house and car for evidence, but repeatedly asked them not to tell her neighbors, police said. The woman said she would be unable to identify the shooter.
Man shoots at suspected serial burglar
A 22-year-old Detroit man was arrested Sept. 18, shortly after being shot at while allegedly breaking into a garage in the 6700 block of Heyden.
Heights and Dearborn officers caught a man matching witnesses’ descriptions running near Garling and Whitlock and arrested him there. Witnesses later confirmed he was the burglar.
The man who shot at the suspect told police that his girlfriend, who was at work at the time and owns the house, had called him to check on her children. She said her 12-year-old daughter, who was home with her younger brother, called and said someone was crawling into the window of the garage.
The shooter arrived and went into the house, grabbed his girlfriend’s gun and went outside to confront the suspect. When he yelled for the suspect to come out of the garage, the suspect charged him, the man said. He then fired three shots at the suspect, causing him to turn and flee. None hit the mark.
(Compiled by Chris Jackett, J. Patrick Pepper and Tom Tigani.)