Allen Park
Beer run witnessed
About 5:15 p.m. Monday, a white man with blondish hair approached the counter at the Party Shop, 7235 Allen Road, to ask about the price of a case of Bud Light.
The clerk said the man appeared to be between 18 and 20 years old, so he could not purchase the alcohol. The man then ran out the front door of the store with the beer and around to the back of the building.
A witness in the parking lot said the man with the beer and another man jumped into a 1997 Ford Escort driven by a woman, and that the three then headed north. The witness provided a license plate number; he and the clerk said they could identify the suspects if they were seen again.
Employee’s vehicle victim of smash and grab
A $120 Global Positioning System unit and a $100 television were stolen Monday from a green 2010 Ford Flex belonging to an employee working in the 1500 block of Fairlane Drive.
She arrived at work about 8:15 a.m. and was informed by mall security about 1:30 p.m. that her vehicle had been broken into. The passenger-side window had been broken out, and both the GPS unit and TV were missing.
Dearborn
Teens arrested for attempted auto theft
Three teenagers were arrested Sept. 26 for attempted theft of a number of vehicles in the city’s northeast side.
Officers were dispatched about 7:15 p.m. to the area of Belton and Decatur on reports that the group was checking car door handles to see if they were unlocked. One witness reported seeing the oldest of the group – ages 17, 16 and 14 – get into a Chevrolet Venture minivan while the two younger boys stood lookout.
By the time officers arrived the boys had moved on from the minivan, but police noted what appeared to be fresh damage to its ignition column. Another patrol car spotted the boys walking in Detroit just north of Tireman; they subsequently were arrested.
Officers found various car theft tools on the oldest boy, who was charged with attempted auto theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The 14-year-old and 16-year-old were charged and released to their parents.
Drunken driver falls asleep on on-ramp
Police arrested a 30-year-old Detroit man about 6 a.m. Sept. 26 on his third drunken driving offense after finding him asleep behind the wheel on the northbound Telegraph ramp to eastbound Michigan Avenue.
Officers said the man’s 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo was in drive, and that his foot was on the brake when they approached the window. When they roused the man, they noticed a strong odor of alcohol and said the man’s eyes appeared bloodshot. The man told police he had been drinking, but was no longer drunk because he had stopped at 2 a.m.
Police ordered a series of field sobriety tests that the man failed, and a subsequent preliminary breath test showed the man had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, or more than twice the state legal limit of 0.08.
Dearborn Heights
OnStar helps cops recover stolen SUV
Police and the automotive security system company OnStar teamed up Sept. 23 to recover a stolen 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe from the 25800 block of Deerfield.
A company dispatcher, using satellite-tracking mechanisms in the vehicle, gave police the address where the car likely was located. When they couldn’t find the address, the dispatcher said the Tahoe might be inside a garage and activated its alarm.
Sure enough, the officer heard a horn sounding inside a nearby garage and proceeded to knock at the front door of the corresponding house.
The man who answered the door told police he had purchased the $50,000 sport utility vehicle with cash the day before from a man named Bubba in Detroit. When the man at the door was unable to present a bill of sale or a title for the SUV, he was placed under arrest.
The car was towed from the scene and returned to its owner in Detroit.
Armed robber gets cash his way
A man with a sawed-off shotgun robbed Burger King, 20401 Warren, about 5 p.m. Sept. 27.
An employee told police the man walked into the store with the gun already out and demanded money. The employee handed over about $100 before the suspect fled on foot south on Garling before disappearing out of sight on Whitlock.
The suspect is described as a thin white man, about 5 foot 10 inches tall between 20 and 30 years old. He had dark hair and was wearing a backwards black hat, a black bandana covering his face, a blue jacket and blue gloves.
Lincoln Park
Young partier caught with beer
Police cited a 20-year-old resident for drinking illegally just before 3 a.m. while checking the Blue Iguana, 3456 Fort St., for liquor license violations.
The man was holding a bottle of beer when police arrived and admitted he was under age. He said he gave the door man $20 to get in. The door man said the man showed him a piece of identification listing him as 21 years old and denied accepting a payoff.
The owner told police he would check the bar’s security camera. The underage man was arrested.
Police checked out 10 other bars that night for liquor license violations and found none.
Would-be thief with knife halted
Police were called about 7:45 p.m. Monday to the 900 block of Mill on word of an intoxicated male staggering south on the sidewalk while holding a knife and had just tried to break into a vehicle parked in a driveway.
Police found a 19-year-old River Rouge man trying to climb over a 6-foot privacy fence in a backyard.
Witnesses said they first saw the man walking south on Wilson from Cleveland, and that he appeared to be pulling aggressively at the vehicle’s passenger-side door handle. They said they saw him briefly lying on the vehicle’s hood before crossing the street and walking east, where police met and detained him.
He was carrying the knife, which had a folding blade, black handle and steel edge, as well as a bottle of prescription pills in his front left pocket.
Police then arrested him without incident.
Melvindale
Man pushes stolen mower past police
About 4 a.m. Tuesday, an off-duty officer leaving the police station, 3100 Oakwood Blvd., saw a 52-year-old Detroit man pushing what appeared to be two lawn mowers past the station along the north side of Oakwood.
After a caller reported the man as a suspicious person, an on-duty officer located him just east of the station between Palmer and Flint. He abandoned the items and began walking through an alley when he saw the patrol vehicle.
The man gave a false name and birthday to police and told them he was walking home when he found a lawn mower, edger and power tools in the alley he was standing in. The officer searched the man and found a screwdriver, blade and crack pipe in his pockets.
At the station police learned the man’s true identify, and that he was on parole for stealing property. When told officers knew he was lying, he said he found the tools a few blocks east of the station in the 3500 block of Lenore and thought they were junk, so he took them.
Vehicle taken from apartment complex
A woman returned from a family trip to discover her vehicle missing about 6 p.m. Sept. 27 from the 21400 block of Outer Drive.
She had parked it near her sister’s apartment about 5:30 p.m. Sept. 26. The vehicle contained $400 in cash from a paycheck, as well as her registration and insurance paperwork.
The vehicle owner’s sister told police that apartment residents have had problems with young males hanging out at a nearby picnic table and “smoking dope,” and suspects they may be responsible.
Riverview
Ex-employee doesn’t report closed store break-in
Police were called about 3:15 p.m. Sept. 21 to the former UPS Store, 19198 Fort St., on report of a former store employee potentially being inside the building illegally.
The store’s rear metal door was open wide, and a red Jeep driven by a former store employee was seen pulling away. The co-owner of the maintenance company that changed the store’s locks after it was closed called police after an employee at a neighboring business called him.
Police approached the store from the front and alley sides but discovered no one inside. Two cash register drawers were empty and lying on the ground. The former store’s franchise owner said no money was inside the building.
The UPS Store was evicted Sept. 17, and the driver of the red Jeep was seen purchasing items at the nearby tobacco store about 3 p.m. Sept. 21. The tobacco store owner had noticed the metal door to the former UPS Store open about 11 a.m., and told the former employee about it.
When police called regarding her visit to the UPS Store, the former employee hung up the phone after being asked why she didn’t notify them upon finding the door open.
Southgate
Celebration marred by theft
Items inside a purse belonging to a girl celebrating the Southgate Anderson High School homecoming were taken early last Sunday from Logan’s Roadhouse, 13305 Eureka Road.
She and a boy were inside the restaurant and came out just after midnight to find that the limousine driver who had dropped them off removed the items belonging to everyone in their party and set them on a bench outside because someone had violated the limousine company’s alcohol policy.
The purse was among the items on the bench; it contained a driver’s license, school identification and a wallet valued at $10.
Helmet dispenser disappears
A vending machine containing miniature football helmets was taken sometime between Aug. 28 and Sept. 25 from the lobby at Kroger, 13333 Eureka Road.
The machine, valued at $500, was just inside the exit doors.
Trenton
Underage drinkers busted
Police received an anonymous tip that underage drinking was taking place at C Dogz Bar & Grill, 2441 Van Horn Road.
A 20-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were standing outside when they arrived. Police administered blood-alcohol level breath tests; both failed and were cited.
Inside, police found nine people at a table with several glasses of beer and a pitcher of beer. None were wearing the wrist bands the bar staff had been dispensing to people who were of legal drinking age.
The server for that table said she was sure that several people at the table were wearing the bands. She was about to be cited when police took five of the group outside, where they admitted to buying wrist bands for $15 each from the door man and then hiding them when police arrived. A patron verified their story.
Three of the group had been drinking but were well under the legal limit of 0.08 percent. They were cited for underage drinking. The server eventually was cited for serving them.
Man walks out with gun to meet police
Police responding to a noise complaint at apartments in the 3300 block of Van Horn Road about 10:15 p.m. last Sunday were greeted by a man who exited his apartment carrying a gun.
The silver and black handgun was in a shoulder holster, and his right hand was on the grip. Police removed the gun, a loaded .45-caliber, 13-shot pistol, and made it safe.
The man’s speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot, and he admitted to drinking at a bowling center earlier that night. He told them because he had been wearing headphones he did not hear them knock the first two times, and that he looked through the peephole of his front door before exiting his apartment.
He said he had the gun for protection, but could not provide registration.
Police confiscated it and told him to contact detectives, who later verified that the gun is registered to him.
Taylor
Copper cleaned out of vacant house
About 8 a.m. Tuesday, a real estate agent discovered copper pipe and copper wire missing from the basement of a house in the 24400 block of Crowley.
The house last was seen intact at noon Sept. 13. Wiring to an air-conditioning unit had been cut, possibly in preparation for thieves, police said.
The agent noticed damage to the back door earlier this month and had it replaced.
Secret stash of cash disappears
About 8 a.m. Sept. 25, a resident in the 8300 block of Weddel discovered about $7,000 cash missing from an envelope inside a closet in her house.
Nothing else was missing or out of place. She told police she last saw the money intact Aug. 28 and has no idea who might have taken it.
Police found no signs of forced entry.
Wyandotte
Woman cues up ex
A 23-year-old Lincoln Park resident returned from work about 4:45 a.m. Wednesday to find his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend waiting at his house in the 1200 block of Lincoln.
The ex-girlfriend was intoxicated and demanded her property. The man began walking into the house to retrieve his ex’s property when she started hitting him in the back.
The man returned with the items, including a pool cue, and gave them to the woman. She grabbed the cue and swung it at her ex-boyfriend, grazing his right ear. The woman’s new boyfriend pulled her away and both fled the area. The man does not wish to press charges.
Ecorse couple snatches purse
Police were alerted about 4:45 p.m. Sept. 25 that two suspects in a black 1995 Dodge Neon had just stolen a purse at Family Dollar, 13500 Fort St. in Southgate.
A witness in a black Ford Taurus, who was on the phone with police dispatchers, was following the suspects’ vehicle.
Wyandotte officers first discovered the vehicle as it ran a stop sign on northbound Fifth and turned east onto Vinewood. The Neon pulled over to the curb immediately when police initiated a traffic stop. A 37-year-old Ecorse man was behind the wheel and a 38-year-old Ecorse woman was in the passenger seat.
When asked what they did at the store, the woman replied, “We took that lady’s purse. I’m so sorry. I’ve got a drug habit. I’m sorry.”
The woman admitted that the money from the purse was in her crotch, and while handcuffed retrieved about $9 in cash. Another $37 was found in the passenger cup holder, which the woman said also was from the stolen purse.
In addition to the robbery, the driver also had a previous second-or-greater offense for driving with a suspended license.
(Compiled by Chris Jackett, J. Patrick Pepper and Tom Tigani.)