Allen Park
Man robbed in house
A man was robbed in his house Feb. 11 in the 10100 block of Reeck.
Police said three Hispanic males and a Hispanic female took $70 in cash and a cell phone from the man after threatening to kill him if he did not give them all his money.
The woman had been inside the house alone and with some of the men on three occasions in the last month to talk to the homeowner. The homeowner had not met any of them before that, but said at times they appeared to be “up to no good” because it seemed like one suspect would distract him while another would look around the house.
At about 5 p.m. Feb. 11, the woman arrived as the homeowner was leaving, and he told her he did not have time to talk. One of the men pushed past him and entered the house, where he began demanding money. He walked through the house, pulled the homeowner into the master bedroom by his arm and again demanded money.
The homeowner told him he did not have any money. The suspect then took $70 from the man’s pants pockets, as well as his cell phone. The homeowner said the man threatened to kill him if he did not hand over all the money in the house.
After 30 minutes the suspects left in a red Chrysler, headed west on Midway.
The victim’s cell phone was found later in a nearby church parking lot.
Guns, pills, found on erratic driver
Two guns were found on a 34-year-old Detroit man stopped Tuesday after driving erratically on eastbound I-94.
A Colt .45 semiautomatic handgun and another gun, which turned out to be a toy, were found sticking out from under the seat of the man’s vehicle. Ecstasy tablets also were found on the driver.
At about 8 p.m. an officer watched the man swerve from the center lane onto the freeway’s ramp lanes to Pelham and Southfield, crossing over the shoulder and a snowbank.
The driver stopped just before Southfield, but refused to stop speaking on his cell phone and was handcuffed.
The man said he drove erratically because he has bad night vision and was looking for a gas station.
The gun was reported stolen from Redford Township. The toy gun was destroyed.
Southgate
Computer, bookbag swiped
A laptop computer and a bookbag containing books were taken Feb. 11 from a 2001 Pontiac parked in the 14300 block of Irene.
The bookbag and books collectively are valued at at $500, as is the computer.
Shower guest leaves without a hitch
A trailer hitch was removed from a 2008 Dodge truck just after 2 p.m. Tuesday at Holiday Inn, 17201 North Line Road, while the driver was inside attending a baby shower.
The hitch is valued at $100.
Dearborn
Copper reels stolen
Two 700-pound copper reels were discovered missing about 7 a.m. Feb. 9 from a construction site in the 500 block of Military.
The site supervisor said 12 reels of copper were delivered Jan. 7 to the site and had not been used.
The missing rolls were valued at $700 each.
The site is closed on most days from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Man with gun arrested
A 29-year-old Detroit man was arrested about 10:30 Feb. 10 after allegedly attempting to carjack a 25-year-old Detroit woman in front of Henry Ford Community College, 5101 Evergreen Road.
She said she was waiting at a red light when a man dressed in black with a mask over his mouth and nose approached her car on the passenger side. He had a handgun, which was identified as semiautomatic, at his side.
She said he had another object, which she described as shiny, on the left side of his chest.
Thinking she was being carjacked, she drove to her house in the 6000 block of Evergreen, where she reported the incident.
Police found the man in Dearborn at Evergreen and Valleyview north of Michigan Avenue and arrested him.
Dearborn Heights
Money taken from house
Power tools and cash were taken between 7 a.m. 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14 from a house in the 6000 block of Cambridge.
The owner believes thieves may have entered through a sliding glass doorway that was found unlocked.
The front door was open, but the homeowner said it couldn’t be locked.
Missing are an air compressor, a snowblower and $2,500 in cash.
Tools stolen from garage
About $2,000 worth of tools were taken between 1 a.m. and 2 p.m. Feb. 10 from a garage in the 4000 block of Polk.
The side door had been forced open.
Taylor
Shopping trip goods lifted
Several shopping bags containing clothing were removed shortly before 6 p.m. last Sunday from a Toledo man’s rented 2010 Honda Accord parked at Ramada Inn, 20777 Eureka.
The rear driver’s-side window had been broken out. The clothing is valued at about $300.
Shoe collection walks off
A resident in the 7200 block of Hipp came home Feb. 12 to find that a number of items were missing from her house.
She told police her son and his friend had been asleep in the front room from 11:30 a.m. until she returned about 1:45 p.m. to find the back door open.
Two pairs of jeans, a cell phone and 38 pairs of basketball shoes were taken from her son’s bedroom.
The resident told police the theft may have something to do with her son’s recent dissociation from a former group of friends.
Restaurant sprinkler line cut
A vacuum line for a sprinkler system was found cut and removed just after 1:20 a.m. last Sunday outside White Castle, 22350 Ecorse Road.
The general manager said it contained copper and estimated the damage at between $300 and $500.
Lincoln Park
Car looter spotted, arrested
A 20-year-old resident was arrested last Sunday for allegedly stealing items from vehicles in the area of Keppen and Dix.
Police were called about 5 p.m. on word that a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head was looking into vehicles and pulling on door handles. Officers caught up with him in the 1800 block of Russell, and he admitted to taking “something” from a nearby car, but wasn’t sure what it was or exactly where he got it.
An item in his left front pants pocket turned out to be a car stereo remote from a Cadillac in the 1900 block of Keppen; it was returned to its owner.
A woman in the 1800 block of Keppen said she saw the man walk up a driveway empty-handed, loiter near a red pickup truck and try to gain entry. She said he then walked away with a black toolbox and proceeded to enter a Pontiac Grand Prix.
Police contacted the latter car’s owner, who said it had been rifled through, but that nothing was missing. The toolbox was located in an alley off Russell; the man was arrested and charged with larceny and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a preliminary examination of the evidence against him.
Would-be car thief caught
A 19-year-old Romulus man was caught about 8 a.m. Monday after allegedly trying to steal a car the 1300 block of Chandler.
Police were called on word of an altercation and saw a man headed south on foot on Fort Street who turned east onto O’Connor when he saw them. Officers ordered the man to the ground and he complied when a man came running up behind them with a baseball bat and said, “You got him.”
The man with the bat said he was riding in a vehicle traveling past the area when he saw the man running from a woman who was screaming.
The man with the bat got out and gave chase before officers caught the other man. The man with the bat said he never intended to use it, and the man who was running showed no signs of being struck.
A woman working at a business in the area said she had seen the man police had caught inside a car being warmed up by her co-worker. The woman told the co-worker, who then came out and saw the car’s backup lights on as it started to move out of the driveway.
She began yelling at the man, who then approached her car and began hitting her hand against the window begging the man not to steal it.
Police arrested the man for trying to steal the car.
Melvindale
Home break-in nets valuables
Cash and paperwork were taken Feb. 11 from a house in the 17000 block of Clarann while the owner was at work.
The owner’s relative called her at work about 4 p.m. to tell her she saw the garage door to the house open. An interior door in the garage also was open. Officers noticed footprints in the snow leading up to every window of the house.
A television in the living room was unplugged and lying on the floor. A mattress in the master bedroom had been removed from its frame and a safe containing personal information and hundreds of dollars in cash was missing.
Neighbors said they saw a red car in the garage, but that they thought the driver, described as a short Hispanic male in his 30s wearing tan coveralls, was the owner’s boyfriend. The car pulled out of the garage and headed north on Clarann.
The owner said she did not know the man they described.
Riverview
Money missing from account
More than $19,000 was stolen recently from a resident’s bank account.
He said a teller at Chase Bank in Riverview told him five transactions totaling $12,400 from the Romulus branch of the bank showed up on his account. A total of $7,100 in electronic transfers also was missing.
Police said the two thefts may not be connected.
Wyandotte
Motorist gets spitting mad
A fight between two motorists escalated when one allegedly spat on the other Tuesday.
A 41-year-old Rockwood man said the suspect, who was driving a Mercury Sable, cut him off at about 11 a.m. while they were driving east on Ford Avenue. The Rockwood man then passed the Sable and stopped with his hazard lights on in an attempt to get the man’s license plate number.
He said he and the other man both got out of their vehicles, and the Sable driver then spat in his face and pushed him. He said the man then got back into his Sable and continued west on Ford.
The Sable driver was described as a white male in this 40s or 50s with a slightly graying goatee. He was about 5 feet 9 inches tall and of medium build.
The Rockwood man said he wanted to pursue assault charges against the man, who could not be located.
A license plate number he obtained from the Sable was traced to a Grosse Ile man.
A witness said the Rockwood man exited his vehicle first and yelled at the Sable driver, who then spat in his face and pushed him.