Allen Park
Theft nets jewelry, cash
More than $35,000 in jewelry and cash was reported stolen from a house in the 16000 block of Cambridge Monday.
The homeowner said he returned from a weekend vacation about 7 p.m. Monday to find his back window and patio door open and a desk ransacked. Several rooms also were ransacked.
Missing were three gold watches valued at $8,000 each, 15 diamond rings valued together at $7,000, $2,000 in change, three pairs of diamond earrings, ($1,000 together), two diamond necklaces ($750 each), a credit card and three U.S. passports.
Building vandalism leads to arrest
Three Lincoln Park teens were arrested June 30 after officers caught them vandalizing an abandoned building.
Officers arrived at the building, formerly Farmer Jack, 14550 Southfield, about 2 a.m. after receiving an anonymous tip about vandalism there and saw the rear door had been kicked open. They also heard glass breaking.
Four teens then approached them on their way out of the building. One of them, a juvenile whose age was not given, obeyed their commands to lay on the ground while the others attempted to flee toward the back of the building.
Two 17-year-old boys then returned to the front of the building and were handcuffed. An 18-year-old man was located later and handcuffed.
The 17-year-old boys smelled of alcohol and were given preliminary breath tests. They registered .012 and .06 percent blood alcohol levels on the tests and were held overnight along with the 18-year-old man. In Michigan, the legal limit for adults is .08. The juvenile was released to his mother.
Melvindale
Passenger hit with wrench
A 25-year-old resident was arrested after allegedly breaking a car window and hitting one of the vehicle’s passengers with a metal wrench just after midnight July 3 in the 18000 block of Wood.
Dearborn Heights
Thieves swipe lawn furniture
Lawn furniture valued at $350 was taken between 6 p.m. June 24 and 7 p.m. June 26 from a house in the 4000 block of Monroe.
The homeowner said that when she came back to the house after leaving for the weekend, two wooden chairs and a table were missing from her front porch.
The victim’s neighbors said that they didn’t see anyone at the house while she was gone.
Bold suspect steals car
A blue 2010 Chevrolet Impala was stolen about 1:30 p.m. June 28 from J&J Collision Service Inc., 6528 N. Telegraph.
The owner of the shop said that the suspect, a black male 5 feet 11 inches with a thin build, went into his office while it was empty and took the keys.
Surveillance video shows the suspect taking the keys from behind the counter and leaving in the car.
Pair lift baby products from drugstore
Police are looking for a couple who shoplifted baby products at 8 p.m. June 28 from Walgreens, 25700 Ford Road.
The store manager said that the woman went to the baby and health care aisle and started putting items in a red bag that she brought with her. The suspects then met in the back of the store before leaving. The manager said he didn’t see the man take anything and that he may have been a decoy.
The man is described as white, about 30 years old, 6 feet tall with brown hair, a thin build and tribal tattoos on his back. The woman was white, about 25 years old with brown hair and was wearing a long-sleeve gray shirt and plaid capri pants.
Lincoln Park
Victim’s nephew nabs car thief
When a woman reported the theft of her 1994 Buick Century from the 1600 block of Richmond Ave. at about 7:45 a.m. July 2, police entered the vehicle’s specifics into the Law Enforcement Information Network in hopes of finding the car, valued at $2,000.
Instead, about five hours later her nephew saw the vehicle, followed it and detained the suspect before turning him over to police.
According to a police report, the nephew first saw the car on Dix Road near Cicotte, not too far from his aunt’s house. He pulled next to the vehicle and observed a 34-year-old male, later identified as John Paul Bishop, driving his aunt’s car.
Bishop reportedly drove to Langley’s Liquor & Lottery, 1317 Dix Hwy. The nephew pulled in behind, and saw Bishop exit the car and run down an alley. They ran east on College, and with the help of an off duty police officer who was in the area, they detained Bishop until patrol officers arrived.
Bishop was taken into custody and, on Monday was video arraigned before Magistrate Jeffrey L. Fanto. He was held on $10,000 or 10 percent bond, and faces a preliminary examination of the evidence against him Tuesday. Bishop faces charges of unlawful driving away of a vehicle, and is also charged as a fourth-time habitual offender.
‘Arrest me,’ bicycle thief tells cops
Just after midnight Tuesday, Lincoln Park Police said a seemingly intoxicated man stole a bicycle from a home in the 400 block of White Ave.
The alleged thief, a 46-year-old Lincoln Park man, did not deny taking the bicycle but insisted he found it in an alley, and not a backyard.
The bicycle’s owner called police to report that an 18-speed mountain bike was taken from his home and that he was following the suspect, an older white male with long hair wearing a black shirt. The owner followed the suspect to White Street near Washington, where he dismounted and was walking away when responding officers arrived.
The victim told officers he returned from a fireworks show and noticed the bicycle was missing from his yard. He and a friend looked around the neighborhood and observed the suspect riding the bike. They confronted the suspect, who denied taking the bike. The suspect reportedly told the victim that he would break his legs, and that he had friends in the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club who would, “handle the situation.”
Rather than call in the biker gang, the suspect ran away. The victim called 911 and followed the suspect until responding officers arrived.
The suspect appeared intoxicated, and his pants and socks were covered with prickly burrs that likely were picked up while climbing the fence.
“Arrest me,” the suspect reportedly said when confronted with evidence. The bicycle went home with the victim, and the suspect was taken into custody and issued a citation. An arraignment for larceny charges is scheduled for Friday.
Riverview
Break-in causes flood
A house in the 18700 block of Riverview was flooded July 2 after someone attempting to steal the water heater caused damage to it.
A resident who was renovating the house found the copper piping surrounding the water heater damaged when he returned to the house about 7:30 p.m. after leaving it at 8:30 that morning.
There was possible water damage to the carpet and floors. Molding around the rear entry door was damaged. A fire extinguisher also had been sprayed around the house.
Southgate
Tools taken from storage
Sometime in the past year, one or more thieves made off with an estimated $1,300 worth of plumbing tools, a Southgate woman said.
Police responded July 1 to an apartment building in the 13000 block of Cambridge. That morning, the woman’s husband discovered a variety of tools were no longer in the locked storage space in the building’s basement. The problem, she told police, was that they had not visited the room in about a year, and had no idea when the items were taken.
Police found no sign of forced entry, and the woman said that it did not appear as if any other items in the storage room were disturbed.
Shopper’s truck stolen from parking lot
A man who said he may have dropped his keys told police that around 1:30 p.m. June 30 his 2004 Ford F-250 pickup truck was taken from the parking lot of Aldi, 17379 Eureka Road.
The victim said he was only in the store for about 15 minutes before discovering that the truck, valued at $15,000, had been stolen. Police found no sign of forced entry near the parking space, and the keys were missing. Inside the vehicle were a GPS system valued at $300, an estimated $2,000 cash and assorted CDs.
Police entered the vehicle into the Law Enforcement Information System.
Taylor
Robbed on day of departure
A woman preparing to move out of state told Taylor police that her apartment was burglarized the morning of July 1 between 8:45 and 11 a.m.
Police responded to the complaint in the 12000 block of Pine Street, where they observed that the front door had been damaged, allowing entry. The woman said she was leaving later that day and did not know who might have stolen her things.
Among the items listed as missing were a flat-screen television, laptop computer, VCR/DVD player, video game system and assortment of games. The woman said she was not insured, and did not know the approximate value of the items taken.
Responding officers observed an apartment in “total disarray,” with garbage and dog feces littering the floors. They found no evidence regarding the break in, and neighbors said they hadn’t heard anything suspicious.
Power outage invites burglars
The owner of Suds & Vac, 25929 Van Born Road, told police that his normally functioning burglar alarm went silent during weekend storms, and sometime between 8 p.m. July 2 and 8 a.m. Sunday, one or more thieves made off with an assortment of tools.
Police responded to the report of a burglary and forced entry at the auto wash business. The owner, who said his son runs the operation, showed investigators the broken door and a coin box that someone attempted to open.
From the office, a variety of tools were taken. The owner said his son would provide police with insurance information and a complete list and approximate value of items taken.
Wyandotte
SUV missing after repair
A vehicle was allegedly stolen sometime before July 2, after the owners took it to a resident of the 2000 block of 12th Street for repairs.
A Grosse Ile man said he took his wife’s 1998 Toyota 4Runner sport utility vehicle to the man June 30 for a brake repair and paid him $60. He was to pick it up that day and pay the $40 balance, but said the man, who was referred by a friend who had found him on an online bulletin board, had been evasive about its return in text messages between the two.
The Grosse Ile man said he attempted to contact the man by phone and a woman answered and said he had been a tenant but had moved out. A records check revealed two police reports detailing vehicles that were not returned or were damaged after they were left in the man’s care.
An address in Romulus was located for the man and the police department there was contacted to check for the vehicle.
Burglar leaves messy surprise
A resident of the 4000 block of Quarry returned home about 4:30 p.m. July 2 to find his house had been broken into.
His waterbed in a bedroom on the second floor had been slashed and was leaking through the ceiling of the first floor. Used maxi pads were strewn around the bedroom and bathroom. No items were missing from the house.
The front door was unlocked and the man said he had locked it before leaving that morning.
He suspects a woman he knows, but declined to provide officers with information about her.
(Compiled by Daniel Heraty, James Mitchell and Andrea Poteet.)