Allen Park
Scooter missing
A motorized scooter was stolen from a detached garage in the 9600 block of Becker Avenue overnight May 31.
The homeowner said she shut and locked the garage door about 9:30 p.m. the day prior after working in the backyard all day. When she returned to the garage about 9:30 a.m. the next day, she discovered the scooter, valued at $8,000, missing.
The door was locked and there was no damage to the door jamb, but an officer pushed the locked door open, as the door lock was not lined up with the door jamb.
Two arrested in car break-ins
Two Allen Park residents were arrested after allegedly stealing items from eight unlocked cars in the area of Belmont and Fox avenues June 2.
About 4:49 a.m. that day, officers responded to a call of a 26-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman fleeing from a 2011 Honda Accord they allegedly had broken into.
The two were handcuffed and officers made contact with the vehicle owner, who said he was eating in his kitchen when he heard his dogs barking. He went outside to check on them and saw the suspects walking away from the car and the driver’s-side door open.
Britton Michael Fox and Marie Victoria McCracken were arraigned and face preliminary examinations of the evidence against them June 18 in 24th District Court.
A search of the neighborhood revealed as many as seven other vehicles had been opened and rummaged through. All vehicle doors had been left open.
Officers made contact with one of the vehicle owners, who said nothing appeared to be missing from his vehicle. A bottle of prescription pain killers reported stolen from a 1999 Ford Ranger parked in the 14700 block of Wick was found in McCracken’s pockets.
Items missing from storage area
Items were reported stolen from a fenced-in storage area behind Home Depot, 3165 Fairlane Drive, June 2.
About 8 a.m. that day a store manager called to report someone had cut the chain link fence and entered through the opening. The padlock on the gate was also cut, and was a possible exit point.
Store personnel is compiling a list of missing items.
The manager said he is not sure when the theft happened, but is sure it was after May 28.
Dearborn
Bike stolen from gas station
A red and silver two-speed men’s mountain bike was reported stolen at 10:09 p.m. June 1 at a Sunoco Gas Station, 22600 Michigan Ave.
The 26-inch bike was locked when a suspect, described as a 6-foot tall black man, possibly between 20 and 22 years old with short braided hair and wearing a pair of headphones, took it, according to the report.
The report said a man parked his bicycle outside of the gas station and then went inside to purchase a few items. When the victim went outside he noticed his bicycle was missing. He could not provide an officer with additional suspect information.
Police spot car broken into, damaged during the night
While on patrol, a police officer observed that a car’s ignition was punctured at about 5:30 a.m. June 1 in the 7000 block of East Morrow Circle.
A 2000 gray Jeep Cherokee’s doors were left unlocked and the victim told officers that he parked his vehicle at 8 p.m. on May 31, and discovered it was broken into at approximately 5:30 a.m. the next day.
The victim did not see or hear anything suspicious during the night. His neighbor has cameras on his house, which may have captured the incident.
Car stolen in front of man’s house
A man discovered his vehicle was stolen at about 7 a.m. June 1 in the 5000 block of Bingham.
His 1995 Pontiac Transport was stolen between 5 p.m. May 31 and 7 a.m. June 1. Police responded to the man’s house, where the victim told them he parked his vehicle at about 5 p.m. May 31, and noticed it was missing at about 7 a.m. the next day. Police did not see any glass around where the vehicle was parked. There are no suspects.
Dearborn Heights
Don’t blame it on the alcohol
A convenience-store employee may have been held up with a gun, at about 2:40 a.m. June 6 at 7-Eleven, 27150 Cherry Hill Road.
The store employee said a man entered the store at about 2:40 p.m. and asked for Absolut vodka but the clerk turned the man down because it was too late to sell the alcohol. The employee reported that the suspect came back at about 3:15 a.m. and said to the employee “Give the Absolut vodka to me or I’ll shoot you.” The suspect then put his hand into his pocket leading the clerk to believe he had a gun, according to the report. The clerk then reached under the counter and placed a fifth of Smirnoff Vodka on the counter, which the suspect picked up and fled east from the store on foot. The clerk believes the suspect may live in an apartment complex on Cherry Hill. Police asked for store video footage.
Purse stolen from vehicle’s open window
A woman’s purse was stolen between 5 and 7 p.m. June 4, at Greenland Market, 25853 Ford Road. The woman, who works at the market, told police that she parked her vehicle with her purse inside of the car, in the parking lot at about 5 p.m. The victim said she locked her vehicle but her window was cracked open, possibly wide enough for someone to place their arm inside of the vehicle.
The victim returned to her car at about 7:30 p.m., when she discovered her purse was missing from the vehicle. The victim contacted the credit card companies to cancel her credit cards and was advised that one of the other cards was used at a gas station in Dearborn. When the victim went to the gas station and talked with an employee, the employee said the gas station does have a camera system, but the images are of poor quality. There are no suspects.
Rash of elderly crimes continue
An elderly man felt suspicious when two men entered his house after saying they were with the water department and they needed to dig up his backyard, at about 4 p.m. June 4 in the 26000 block of Cherry Hill Road.
After the men, described as Middle Eastern with dark, brown hair, approached the elderly man, one of the men said “We will be digging in your backyard and I’ll need to check your hot water.”
The victim said he had to go wash his hands and when he walked inside, both men followed him inside of his house. The victim said one of the men stood in front of the bathroom door and that is when the victim became suspicious and he kneed the man in the groin area. The unknown man ran from the house with his partner following behind. The victim reports he watched them flee in their vehicle, described as a black possible Toyota vehicle, south on Charlesworth.
The victim failed to call the police department after he checked to make sure no money or property were taken. The reporting officer spoke to the victim’s niece who was not called until later. She said he is getting old and was probably embarrassed of the incident. The victim said he didn’t get the plate number from the vehicle but he did know it was a scam.
Lincoln Park
Robber grabs cash, bicycle
A 24-year-old man told police he was riding his bicycle to Walgreens to meet his grandmother shortly after midnight Monday when a man stopped him and took his bicycle and money at gunpoint.
According to a police report, the man said he was passing the alley next to Walgreens near the intersection of Fort and Southfield when a black man in his 20s, about 6 feet 2 inches tall wearing a gray sweatshirt, white shorts and white hat grabbed the handlebars of the mountain bike and said “This is a robbery, don’t move or I’ll shoot you.”
The suspect pointed a handgun believed to be a .38 caliber at the man, who was talking with his girlfriend on a cell phone. The man told police he dismounted the bicycle, and that the suspect went through his pockets taking a wallet containing identification and an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect also took the man’s cell phone, and as he rode off told him not to disconnect the number.
Police recorded a description of the suspect and are investigating.
Vehicle stolen from apartment lot
Police were called to an apartment building shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday by a woman who watched a car thief take off with her 1996 Mercury Sable, valued at $5,000.
The woman told police she parked the car at about 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the apartment complex where she was visiting her sister. The woman said that at about 12:30 a.m. they heard banging noises coming from outside, and from a second-floor window watched a black man wearing a black jacket with a red stripe getting into the Sable, which he then drove off south on Electric Avenue before turning around and heading toward Outer Drive.
Officers are investigating.
Melvindale
‘Garbage pickers’ have wrong day
Two Lincoln Park men caught by police carrying suspected stolen items in the 25000 block of Outer Drive May 31 blamed their loot on a “trash picking” habit, but the area’s garbage collection schedule disagreed.
The men, 56 and 41 years old, were stopped by police carrying two potted flowers and a lighthouse garden decoration about 1:36 a.m. that day. They told officers they had collected the discarded items from the side of the road, part of a habit of “trash picking.”
According to the police report, however, the items were in normal condition and no trash had been put out that day in the area the subjects had come from.
Both men told police they were intoxicated and were identified by Lincoln Park officers based on previous encounters. They were released at the scene and the items were taken into evidence.
Southgate
Car looted in hotel lot
Officers on patrol cruised the parking lot of Comfort Suites, 18950 Northline Rd. and may have just missed a thief breaking into a vehicle.
Southgate Police reported that shortly before 3 a.m. June 2, a 2005 Chevy Equinox was seen with the passenger window broken out and signs of damage to the console.
The officers confirmed that the vehicle owner was a guest at the hotel, who said he’d parked the Equinox after returning from the Detroit Tigers game, after which he went to his room. He told police that a $30 multi-tool and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the console.
Taylor
Home robbed during weekend away
A Taylor woman told police she returned home after a holiday weekend and discovered a window pried open and the theft of more than $500 worth of electronics.
The woman said she left her apartment in the 15000 block of Pond Village Drive late May 25, and when she returned four days later found her bedroom ransacked and missing a $380 TV, a $285 video game system and an assortment of jewelry.
Responding officers noted pry marks on a window near the front door, collected evidence and are investigating.
Trenton
Coin dealer burglarized
A yet-unknown amount of valuable coins and cash were taken during a break-in at specialty dealer West Road Coin and Supplies, 3941 West Road.
Trenton police responded to an alarm shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday, June 2, and saw the store’s front glass door smashed and metal security bar pried open. Investigators noted some loose cash and jewelry on the floor, and a glass display place broken into.
Police spoke with the owner, who was to provide a complete list of rare coins, jewelry and missing cash.
Police collected evidence to include security footage and are investigating.
Neighbors dispute noise levels
Trenton Police made two trips to the 2400 block of Rutledge on June 3 to mediate a dispute over the noise levels produced by the fan powering an inflatable slide.
Shortly after 11 a.m. police responded to a man who said the fan and activity at the neighboring party was too loud. The man told police that city ordinance caps noise in residential communities to 60 decibels. He also told police he had a measuring device and recorded the sound level at 67 decibels when he stood at his fence near the fan.
Both the man who called police and the neighbor hosting the party told police that mutual complaints over noise had been going on for several months.
The officers returned to the station and confirmed that city ordinance restricted sound levels to 60 decibels when measured a minimum of 25 feet from the source.
Returning to the site of the complaint, the officers took a reading from the required distance, and recorded a noise of between 59 and 60 decibels “which is within the legal limit,” the officer confirmed, and both parties were advised that further reports would be written if noise violations occur.
Wyandotte
Resident chases car theft suspect
An off-duty Detroit police officer chased a suspect who allegedly stole items out of his 2003 Ford F-150 parked in the 1200 block of 13th May 29.
About 3:30 a.m. that day, the man said he heard his alarm going off and came outside to check it out. He reported seeing a man standing behind his truck. He chased him to 12th and Baumey before the suspect ran east and out of sight.
From the vehicle, which had been locked, the owner found items missing including a global positioning system unit and a police baton. A screwdriver that did not belong to him was left on the front seat of the truck.
The intruder was described as a black man wearing black shorts and a black shirt.
Children suspected of throwing rocks
Two children are suspected of throwing rocks at local business windows in the 1000 block of Oak, damaging one.
About 1 a.m. June 3, officers responded on a call of two children, described as an 8-year-old black girl and a 7-year-old black boy, throwing rocks at the businesses. The caller said he saw the girl bang rocks against the glass of one building while the boy threw rocks against the window.
Officers questioned the children, who denied throwing the rocks. According to the report, police did not make contact with their parents.
Damage to the window was estimated at $200.
(Compiled by Sherri Kolade, James Mitchell and Andrea Poteet.)