Allen Park
Two phones taken from store
Two men on Sunday allegedly stole two phones at a Sprint store, 15441 Southfield Road.
A clerk said the two men, described as black, 25 to 35 years old and dressed all in black, were looking at phones when he heard a phone cord break. He looked at the two men, one of whom told him the phones were too expensive. The men then left the store.
A customer told the clerk he saw the men cut the cords to two phones, valued together at $950, and leave the store with them. The customer followed the men into the parking lot, where he watched them travel north on Allen Road in a silver Chevrolet Malibu. He wrote down the license plate number, but officers determined it was transcribed incorrectly, as it came back to a Chevrolet Trailblazer from Southgate.
Surveillance footage showed the men inside the store for a total of five minutes, but did not show them taking the phones.
Man allegedly tries to pick up girl
A 13-year-old girl reported that an unknown man attempted to pick her up in his vehicle as she was walking home from school Tuesday.
The girl said she was in the area of Colwell and Jonas at 1 p.m. when a man wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and a hat said he knew her and asked if she needed a ride. The man then exited the vehicle.
When he opened the door, the girl started running and ran straight home. She said the man was tall with some facial hair.
Dearborn
Earring theft leads to chase
Two women and a man were arrested Jan. 4 after stealing a display containing earrings from a store at Fairlane Town Center.
Just before 7 p.m. witnesses saw one of the women place the display under her shirt at Icing by Claire’s, 18900 W. Michigan Ave.; the woman then left with the two other suspects in a red Ford Taurus, leading police on a chase that included going through stop signs and traffic.
The chase came to a stop in a condominum complex on the 21000 block of Garrison.
A search of the car turned up the display containing the earrings. An additional search of one of the women’s purses turned up syringes and bottle caps that were found to contain heroin residue.
The three were arrested on charges including fleeing and eluding and possession of narcotics paraphernalia. The car was impounded.
Police returned the earrings to the store after photographing them for evidence.
Three caught shoplifting at clothing store
Security officers caught three males shoplifting about 1:45 p.m. Jan. 2 at Burlington Coat Factory, 16301 E. Ford Road.
Two of the three were observed on camera concealing merchandise including a pair of designer jeans valued at $35 and a $30 T-shirt.
Security guards called out to the suspects; two surrendered the merchandise and stayed. The third did not and went out to the car, which was described as a bronze, four-door Pontiac Grand Prix between model years 1998 and 2002.
Dearborn Heights
Break-in suspect caught
A 16-year-old boy was arrested Jan. 3 in an attempted break-in about 10:30 a.m. in the 25000 block of Penn.
The resident scared him off after seeing him standing outside her bedroom window holding a crowbar and the screen pulled off the window frame. The boy then ran through the yard and jumped over the rear fence.
Police caught up with him at the corner of Carlysle and Gulley and arrested him after the resident identified him as the person who tried to break in to her house.
Cash taken from repair shop
Two thieves got away with $500 cash on Dec. 30 after a break-in at Danny’s Auto Clinic, 25855 W. Warren.
Witnesses said they saw the suspects breaking in about 1:45 a.m., and that one broke the window, entered the building, and then left with an object. The two then drove off in a dark-colored, four-door car that was parked on Centralia before the break-in.
A representative of the business later identified the item as a white cash register containing the money.
Lincoln Park
Storage bins disappear
Twelve storage bins were taken sometime over the past two weeks from the rear of offices of Lear Corp., 1080 John A. Papalas Drive.
The 4-foot-by-6-foot plastic bins were stacked at the rear of the building and are valued at $250 each.
City vehicles damaged
Several city vehicles were damaged between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3.
At the Department of Public Services, 500 Southfield Road, the driver’s-side windows were broken out of a GMC and a Ford; the ignition of another Ford also was damaged. Repair costs for all three vehicles are estimated at $2,400.
On Jan. 2, the windshield was broken and the ignition damaged on a Ford Explorer parked near an apartment complex in the 800 block of Montie. Both headlights were broken and heavy scratch marks were found on the front bumper and the hood, which police believe may indicate that the vehicle was driven through a fence.
Southgate
Buses vandalized
Officials discovered just before 9 a.m. Dec. 31 that three school buses had been broken into at Southgate Community School District property at 13100 Burns.
Radios in all three were damaged, and the windshield of one bus was broken. Total damage is estimated at $2,000.
Hotel guest crashes own party
A guest at Motel 6, 18777 North Line Road, crashed a party he was hosting in one of the rooms early Jan. 1.
Another guest said the party was loud and disturbing others. About 4:30 a.m., the other guest said, the host was locked out of his own room and broke back in by bursting through the door with his shoulder, breaking the lock and causing $500 in damage.
Taylor
Pipes purloined from house
Copper piping and tools were discovered missing last week from a house in the 10400 block of Beech Daly.
The house is being remodeled. The owner said the items last were seen intact at 4 p.m. Dec. 17, and that he discovered them missing about 4 p.m. Dec. 24.
Burglars enter business
A rock was thrown through the window of Dobbins Agency Inc., 23755 Goddard Road, sometime between 6:45 p.m. Dec. 30 and 8 a.m. Dec. 31.
The front door glass was broken; a rear door also was damaged.
The front office and center greeting area had been rummaged through, but nothing appeared missing.
The owner said he would conduct and inventory and advise police.
Trenton
High school student caught with knives
Police were called Wednesday to Trenton High School, 2601 Charlton Road, on word that a student was in possession of a weapon.
An administrator said he found a folding knife in the student’s school bag during a Dec. 17 search of the student’s locker. While searching the boy the administrator also found a second knife, as well as cigarettes and lighters in the boy’s pants pockets.
The administrator suspended the boy after contacting the boy’s father. Police took the two knives as evidence and cited the boy for tobacco possession.
Late-night loadout results in arrest
Two men were spotted about 11 p.m. Wednesday loading items into a dark sport utility vehicle from an apartment in the 2000 block of Marian.
One of the men, age 21, gave police a false name that turned up negative on a criminal records check. Police then went inside the apartment to speak with the man’s girlfriend and noticed a men’s wallet lying on a ledge.
The wallet contained a Michigan identification card bearing a photograph of the man they had just spoken with. The card bore the same last name as the man gave them, but a different first name.
A records check of the name on the card showed two outstanding warrants for his arrest. They then arrested the man for the warrants and for obstructing and giving false information.
Melvindale
Abandoned building vandalized
An abandoned building was vandalized sometime before Jan. 1.
A side door to the building, in the 17200 block of Raupp, had been kicked in, and the door frame was damaged, leaving it unable to be locked. No suspects were found.
Riverview
Man harasses police dog
A 26-year-old Ecorse man was arrested Jan 2 after harassing a police dog.
Shortly before 2 a.m. officers responded to Slip Mahoney’s, 18480 Fort Street, on a report of four men fighting.
When they arrived, the fight was over, but as they were interviewing the men outside the bar, the Ecorse man approached a police car that held a K-9 officer.
When the dog began to bark, officers saw the man head-butt the window nearest the dog. He then was arrested.
Car crashes into ditch
A 45-year-old Woodhaven man was arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol after crashing his car into a ditch Jan. 1.
Shortly after 1 a.m., officers responded to the drainage ditch near Library Drive and Sibley Road, where the man was sitting with two passengers inside his gray 1991 Oldsmobile. The man was disoriented and did not remember how the collision occurred. Tire marks led from a nearby party store to the ditch.
The man refused medical treatment and admitted that he had had two rum and cokes and two prescription tablets for anxiety earlier in the day. The driver failed field sobriety tests and registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.14 percent on a breath test. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08 percent. The man then was arrested.
Officers also recovered a canning jar containing what was believed to be marijuana in his vehicle. The substance was held for safekeeping after the man produced a medical marijuana registry identification card.
Wyandotte
Alleged stalker leaves surprise
A resident of the 3900 block of 20th woke up Dec. 31 to find an unknown white foamy substance covering his front lawn.
He told police he has been a victim of ongoing harassment from a former roommate after a dispute involving rent money. The resident said a motion alarm on his property sounded about midnight the night before, and that he saw the former roommate standing on the sidewalk in front of his house. He turned on the light and the man fled toward Grove.
He observed the foam on the lawn then, but believed it to be snow. He said the former roommate repeatedly has harassed him and his family and damaged his property. A personal protection order he had against the former roommate recently had expired.
The 38-year-old suspect, also from Wyandotte, told police he had been at home drinking the night before and had not left. He became increasingly defensive, police said, and was arrested for stalking.
Text message foretells window damage
A resident of the 1103 block of Perry Place reported that his ex-wife had thrown a brick through his front picture window while he was visiting his new girlfriend Saturday.
The man said his ex-wife sent him a text message that morning saying there would be a brick through the windows of his home and truck. He said the couple had divorced recently, and that the ex-wife was upset that he was dating someone else.
No damage was done to his truck, as it was not in front of the house at the time. A brick was found laying on the floor in the living room. The man was advised to seek a personal protection order against his former wife.
Beer found on homeless teen
An 18-year-old homeless man was arrested for possession of alcohol and trespassing after he was found sleeping Jan. 1 in the laundry room of Castle Apartments, 2700 Superior.
Two tenants called to report an unknown man sleeping in the laundry room. The man smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. He told police he did not live in the complex, and was unable to explain why he was there.
He told police he used to live at his mother’s house nearby, but now was homeless. After his arrest, officers also found an unopened can of beer in his jacket pocket. He refused a breath test for blood alcohol content.