Allen Park
Footprints lead to stolen items
Officers followed a trail of footprints in the snow to the loot from a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado that had been burglarized just before 2 a.m. Monday.
After apprehending a 19-year-old Wyandotte man who allegedly had attempted to break into a house in the 14000 block of Euclid, officers followed footprints on Keppen that led them to a jacket that had been deposited next to the unlocked car. Officers notified the owner, who checked the vehicle and found designer sunglasses and a cell phone charger missing from the car.
When officers picked up the jacket, the owner’s sunglasses and charger were underneath it, along with a global positioning system unit and a lighter.
Stop and steal the roses
A thief at Dollar Tree, 1033 Pelham, found a way to cut costs for Valentine’s Day.
The 50-year-old Taylor man allegedly stole 24 individually boxed chocolate roses from the store about 5 p.m. Jan. 22.
The clerk said she noticed the roses missing and asked all store employees if they had sold them. When she learned they had not, she called the police with a description of a suspect and the license plate number of his GMC Jimmy.
Officers visited the man’s house, where he denied stealing the roses. He was told to expect a warrant issued to him and “did not seem surprised.”
Car theft nets electronics
A Global Positioning System unit, an Mp3 player and $10 in change were reported stolen from a 2009 Ford Fusion parked in the 9000 block of Manor Avenue about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The owner said the items were last seen in the vehicle about 10 p.m. Monday. When he went to take his children to school at 7 a.m. the next morning, the items were missing. He was not sure whether it had been locked.
Dearborn Heights
Thieves thousands in jewelry
Two gold necklaces valued at $5,000 and an engagement ring ($5,000) were stolen about 8:12 p.m. Jan. 23 from a house in the 6000 block of North Silvery Lane.
The victim said the suspects smashed a pane of glass on an exterior side door, got in the house and took the jewelry from a jewelry box in an upstairs bedroom. The thieves also tried to steal $20 in loose change from a plastic jar and a piggy bank.
Would-be stamp thief caught
Officers arrested a man about 2 p.m. Jan. 21 after he allegedly tried to steal a stamp valued at $2,400 during a stamp show at Sokol Hall, 23600 West Warren.
The victim said the suspect was acting in a suspicious manner as he glanced through the victim’s stamps. The victim recognized him from previous art shows and said the suspect had a note pad with him and was writing notes on stamps when the victim heard a tearing sound and asked the suspect to leave.
The suspect asked if he could go back and get his notebook, which the victim refused, but offered to get it for him. After he picked it up, he saw the notepad had double-sided tape on the back with one of the torn-out pages from the victim’s stamp folder, containing the stamp.
The suspect fled, but the victim obtained a license plate number and called 911. After tracing the plates, Dearborn Heights Police and Dearborn Police officers arrived at the suspect’s house and arrested him.
Suspects wanted in attempted armed robbery
Officers are searching for two suspects who allegedly robbed four victims at gunpoint about 12:42 a.m. Jan. 22 in the 3000 block of Huron.
The suspects are described as a 16-year-old boy wearing a brown Carhartt jacket and blue jeans and a man wearing a ski mask and dressed in black.
The victims told officers they were walking along the east side of Hipp Street when they saw two boys walk east on Colgate, then cross Hipp Street and head toward them. The second suspect, recognized by one of the victims as a schoolmate, pointed a shotgun at the victims and ordered them to get on the ground and empty their pockets.
The victims tried to run away, but were allegedly assaulted by both suspects. The victims then ran to a house in the 3000 block of Huron where they called officers.
Dearborn
GPS stolen in front of house
A global positioning system unit valued at $500 and a coat of indeterminate value were stolen sometime before 8 a.m. Jan. 23 from a pickup truck parked in front of a house in the 3000 block of Edgewood.
The victim said the suspects smashed the left rear passenger window of his 2008 Chevrolet Silverado and stole the items.
Car stolen while warming up
A 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe was stolen about 7:07 a.m. Jan. 23 from a house in the 7000 block of East Morrow Circle.
The victim said his son left the pickup truck’s engine running before leaving for school. When the son went to leave, the truck was gone. The victim said the vehicle was a recent purchase and had an in-transit repair license plate.
Candy, air rifles taken from store
Six pellet rifles valued at $90 and a bag of candy ($2) were stolen about 8 p.m. Jan. 22 from a store in the 7000 block of Greenfield.
The store’s owner said he received a phone call from an alarm company about an interior alarm activation. He arrived at the store and found the rear door leading to an upper level propped open and an east-facing second floor window broken.
Security tapes showed a while or Middle Eastern man wearing a black ski mask, a white jacket with two black stripes on both shoulders, blue jeans and gloves exit the second story stairwell. The suspect then walked down an aisle, took two garbage bags from the shelf and stole the items. He then walked behind the counter, lifted the register drawer, looked behind the counter and left.
Lincoln Park
Criminal leaves calling card
Police are looking to speak with a man whose state identification card was left at the scene of a home invasion and burglary.
A Lincoln Park couple called police shortly before 4 a.m. Jan. 22, after discovering their house in the 800 block of Cleveland Avenue had been burglarized. One or more thieves stole about $3,000 worth of electronics, including a 50-inch television valued at $1,600, a 42-inch TV worth $1,200, a laptop computer and a DVD player.
Entry was likely gained through the kitchen window, where the screen was pushed in. The couple found the house ransacked throughout, and while straightening up a bedroom noticed a man’s Michigan state identification card. Neither of the two knew the man, nor had they ever seen him.
Police collected additional evidence, and are investigating.
Southgate
Charger taken from apartment lot
A Southgate man locked his car in an apartment parking lot at about 1 p.m. Jan. 20, and told police it was taken sometime before 8 a.m. Saturday.
Police responded to the complex in the 13000 block of Pine Ridge Lane, where the owner of a 2007 Dodge Charger valued at $1,000 said he secured the vehicle the day before, and took a bus to work. When he returned the next morning the vehicle was gone, although no signs of forced entry or broken glass were observed near the space where he parked.
The vehicle’s description was entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Taylor
Fire-damaged home burglarized
Thieves broke into a fire-damaged home and took off with, among other things, a 50-inch TV valued at $750.
A woman in the 9400 block of Hazel Avenue told police that, after a recent fire caused interior damage, she locked up the house and was staying elsewhere.
After last securing the house Jan. 16, the woman returned about noon Wednesday and discovered a back window smashed in with a patio brick.
Police responded to her call, and noted that the home was ransacked throughout, and soot from the fire still covered most of the rooms. The woman was uncertain what else might have been taken. Police are investigating.
Trenton
Third time’s the harm for swindle attempt
Trenton Police are looking for a currency-exchange con man who allegedly stole $150 cash at a pizza parlor by asking for change of a $50 bill … three times.
According to police reports, an approximately 40-year-old black man entered Jet’s Pizza, 2031 West Rd., around 6 p.m. Jan. 21. Seeking change of a $50 bill, the man allegedly confused the clerk during three separate exchanges of the fifty dollars, receiving more than the value of the bill, and stole $150 from the store.
Police obtained evidence including surveillance video of the exchange and suspect, a man of medium build and about 6 foot 3 inches tall. Police ask that anyone with information contact (734) 676-3737.
Melvindale
Visit leads to theft
A woman visiting a friend in the 17400 block of Wall Street apparently invited thieves to steal some of her valuables.
The woman had left her car keys on the kitchen table in the house and spent several hours there. After returning home, she found her debit card missing. A check of her vehicle revealed other items, including two diamond rings valued at $500, $47 cash, and a Detroit firefighter’s badge belonging to her father, missing.
Shoplifter caught after bike chase
A 27-year-old Lincoln Park man didn’t get far with items stolen from Rite Aid Pharmacy, 4016 Oakwood about 2 p.m. Monday.
The man allegedly fled the scene on a bicycle headed south down a nearby alley onto Allen Road, where officers cornered him.
He told police he was coming from Rite Aid before lifting his shirt to reveal unknown items reported missing from the store before telling officers “I know I shouldn’t have taken it. It was wrong and I was stupid for taking it.”
Officers also found a used syringe on the man and he was arrested for retail fraud and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Riverview
Cameras show theft
A surveillance camera tipped off owners of a house in the 13000 block of Longsdorf to a burglary, just not in the way they’d planned.
About 4 p.m. Jan. 20, the homeowners were installing a portion of the system that recently had been repaired, when they noticed the wires to the system had been cut and the cameras removed.
The system had last been seen intact 10 days prior. Additional items were found missing from the backyard and shed. A detailed list of missing items was being prepared.
Wyandotte
Weapons lead to arrest
Three men were arrested for carrying concealed weapons after a traffic stop turned up a knife and a loaded semi automatic gun about 11 a.m. Monday.
About that time, officers stopped a 1990 Plymouth Voyager after it failed to signal when changing lanes on Fort Street.
On the driver, a 20-year-old resident, officers found the weapons, for which he said he did not have a concealed carry permit. He said he was holding it for a passenger, an 18-year-old resident, while he went into a store.
A stun gun was also found in the vehicle along with marijuana. A 23-year-old Taylor man in the vehicle was also arrested.
Cyclist snags liquor
A man on a bicycle made off with an unknown amount of liquor from CVS/pharmacy, 131 Elm, about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
The man, described as in his 40s or 50s, standing about 6 feet tall with a thin build and salt and pepper hair and wearing a red baseball cap and a gray and red jacket, allegedly stuffed the bottles into his pants and left west through a nearby alley.
It is unknown how much or what kind of liquor was taken.
(Compiled by Daniel Heraty, James Mitchell and Andrea Poteet.)