Allen Park
Camping trip ends in theft
A family returned from a camping trip Monday to find their house in the 14800 block of White had been burglarized.
About 12:30 p.m. that day, the family returned and found the front door was unlocked and a bathroom window had been broken.
Missing were: two laptop computers, valued at $800 each; a class ring ($100); diamond earrings ($100); a portable DVD player ($200); 20 miscellaneous DVDs ($300); an MP3 player ($250); a video game system and games ($550); and two designer cigarette lighters ($200).
The family had left the house two days prior.
Dearborn
Garden equipment stolen
A leaf blower and a lawn mower were stolen about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday from a house in the 7000 block of Anthony.
Surveillance footage shows a black male between 20 and 30 years old taking the mower. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 200 pounds. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, black skullcap, blue jeans and brown shoes.
The homeowner said the suspect entered the detached garage through a side door.
Tools taken from van, garage
About $1,500 in tools and equipment were stolen between midnight and 7 a.m. Wednesday from a garage and van parked in the alley behind a house on the 7000 block of Orchard.
The owner said the side door to the garage was open and he was sure he had locked it. Police found the van’s driver-side window shattered and two pill bottles belonging to the victim were under a bush in the backyard of a neighboring house.
Dearborn Heights
Identity theft nets cable bill
A Nightingale resident told police May 25 that someone ran up a bill for $780 from a cable company using her name and Social Security number.
She said she tried to get a cable TV hookup to her house and was told there was already an account opened in her name in Romulus.
Semi truck burglarized
A global positioning system unit was stolen between 4 p.m May 25 and 8 a.m. May 28 from a 2006 Kenworth tractor-trailer at Diesel Repair Specialists Inc., 26580 Van Born.
The victim said he parked the vehicle in the lot on Saturday. When he went to get it Tuesday, he found the passenger-side window broken out and the GPS unit was stolen.
Car broken into
A 2010 silver Chrysler 300 was broken into between noon and 12:25 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of Target, 26650 Ford Road.
The victim told police she noticed her front passenger-side window was broken out and the global positioning system unit was missing from her dashboard.
Lincoln Park
Police chase, nab spout thief
A call from a Fort Street pizza parlor sent Lincoln Park Police on a chase that ended with a suspect in custody.
Police responded to BC Pizza, 1226 Fort, shortly after midnight Tuesday, May 31 when store workers saw a tall, thin white male removing rain spouts from the side of the building.
Responding officers saw a suspect who fit the description, a man known to police from prior larceny arrests. The officers noticed the suspect removing a pair of dark gloves and ordered him to place his hands on the roof of the patrol car.
The officer struggled with the handcuffs and the suspect slipped his hand free and tried to run. The officer grabbed the suspect and the two fell to the ground. The suspect fought back, striking the officer with his elbow and fist, then ran through the alley and jumped over a fence.
Another officer caught up with the suspect and tackled him on the lawn of a Fort Park home. He again broke free of the police, but was cornered on a porch by three officers. When the suspect attempted to fight the officers, he was electronically subdued and taken into custody.
Officers searched the suspect and found a pair of wire cutters. Once the suspect was in custody, officers searched his home and found the missing downspouts.
Electronics taken in home invasion
A Lincoln Park woman returned from a four-day vacation to discover broken doors and the theft of property, including two flat-screen televisions and a laptop computer.
At about 11:30 a.m. May 30 officers responded to a house in the 2200 block of Charter, where the owner told police she just returned from vacation. Before leaving on May 26, she locked the doors.
The homeowner told police about a former resident of the home, who allegedly “used to break into houses.” Police have a description of the suspect.
The estimated value of the stolen merchandise is $1,500.
Riverview
Items vanish from truck
Items were discovered stolen May 29 from a 1995 GMC Jimmy parked in the 1800 block of Hill Top Drive.
Missing were a CD player, valued at $100, and a satellite radio, valued at $60.
The driver had parked the truck in front of his house at 1 a.m. that day and came back at 6 a.m. to find the driver’s side window had been broken out and the dashboard had been damaged.
Southgate
Purse taken from van
Thieves only made off with about $5 in cash, but a Southgate woman’s stolen purse also contained her identification, cell phone and three debit and credit cards.
Police were called to the YMCA on Northline Road on May 28 to investigate a larceny from a vehicle that took place between 11:15 a.m. and 1:20 p.m., when the victim finished working out with her children.
The woman told police that her door locks were not working properly. Police found no signs of forced entry.
Smashed windows leave trail of larcenies
Southgate Police responded to numerous holiday weekend calls reporting items stolen from parked –usually locked– vehicles.
Three calls to police were made on Sunday, May 29 from residents whose vehicles had been vandalized. Stolen items included car stereo equipment, a camera and music CDs.
Calls were made from the 15000 block of Goddard, the 15000 block of Garrison Lane and the 13000 block of Mark. In two of the cases the side windows of the vehicle were smashed to gain entry.
Melvindale
Car dodger arrested
A 30-year-old Dearborn Heights resident was arrested for disorderly conduct May 26 after allegedly running out into the street in front of vehicles.
About 10:20 p.m. that day, a driver in the area of Greenfield and Schaefer reported the man had run into the street in front of her vehicle. Officers were unable to locate the man.
About 30 minutes later, a driver in the area of Wall and Homestead stopped another officer to report the same man had been standing in the middle of the street and had walked toward her moving vehicle and swung at the passenger side of the car as it passed him.
Officers located the man, described as clearly intoxicated and unable to care for himself, in the 17000 block of Wall and arrested him.
Taylor
Computer, coins missing from home
A woman returned from vacation to find that a laptop computer and large bottle of coins were taken from her home in the 8400 block of Mortenview Drive.
The owner was away from May 26 through May 29 and returned to find the front door glass broken and the door handle knocked off. Searching the home, she reported a laptop computer missing from its case, as well as a large soda bottle filled with coins.
Police reported that the woman said she had no problems with neighbors and was unaware of any suspects.
Equipment taken from behind garage
An assortment of parts and equipment were reportedly the target of larceny in the 6200 block of Wellington Ave. last weekend.
The homeowner told police that several items were taken from behind his garage, including a 40-foot ladder, two aluminum rims, six golf cart batteries and a car stereo. Police estimated the value of the missing items at around $850.
The resident told police he last saw the equipment on May 26, and noticed it missing on May 30.
Trenton
Drunken driver asleep at wheel after accident
Police didn’t have to look far for a suspected hit-and-run driver near Fort Street and Marian at 2:30 p.m. Memorial Day. The victim pointed responding officers to a driveway in the 2700 block of Marian where a resident was asleep at the wheel of a silver Ford Focus.
The Trenton man, after the patrolman shook him awake, said he was diabetic, and a call was made to the Fire Department for medical assistance. While he was treated, responding officers smelled marijuana in the vehicle and observed a suspected marijuana pipe between the front seats. He admitted to having “smoked a little pot” after leaving a nearby bar.
He smelled of intoxicants, and officers also discovered three bottles of whisky behind the seat, one of which was nearly empty. The man failed a variety of sobriety tests, and when advised that he had hit a vehicle on Fort Street, he replied: “That was the car I hit.”
He was taken to the Trenton Police station, issued citations for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, operating while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license and having open intoxicants in a motor vehicle.
Wyandotte
Drugs found on park patron
A 19-year-old Brownstown Township man was cited Tuesday after rolling marijuana joints inside his 2002 tan Kia parked at Memorial Park.
When officers approached the man, he threw a burnt marijuana blunt on the ground near his vehicle. Officers also found two grams of marijuana in a small bag inside his car.
Mower causes van fire
A 2002 GMC Safari van caught fire Tuesday after a recently used lawnmower placed in the back of the vehicle ignited a can of gasoline also kept there.
Officers arrived at a house in the 200 block of Bondie shortly before 9 a.m. to find the van fully engulfed in flames and parked half in the driveway and half in the street.
Its owner said he had placed the lawnmower in the van immediately after using it. After it ignited the gasoline, he attempted to pull the lawnmower out of the van, knocking over the can of gasoline in the process and feeding the flames.
He then climbed into the driver’s seat to back the van out of the driveway and away from the house.
The vinyl on the side of the house’s garage was melted and the rear bumper of a 1999 Jeep Cherokee he also owned was partially melted.
(Compiled by Daniel Heraty, James Mitchell and Andrea Poteet.)