Allen Park
Not crying wolf
A woman called police when she found someone might have attempted to burglarize her mother’s house on the 8000 block of Becker. The woman told police Aug. 13 that her mother suffers from dementia and has called her other times saying she heard noises outside of her house, and when the daughter arrives, she doesn’t find anything. This time, however, the daughter said she found pry marks on two window screens in the rear of the house and the screens were slightly bent at the bottom.
Police were able to collect a fingerprint, but it was smudged.
The screens are valued at $275.
What would you do?
A woman approached a police officer July 13 saying she found $160 underneath a pickup truck in the 15000 block of Garfield Avenue. She handed the officer the money and he tracked down the owner at the man’s house. The man said he lost it while getting out of his truck after work.
Dearborn
Man arrested for OWI
A 34-year-old Dearborn man was arrested for operating while intoxicated following a traffic stop on Outer Drive near Polk at 1:45 a.m. Aug. 21.
Officers patrolling on Michigan Avenue near Gulley were notified by dispatch that a dark 2003 Ford minivan was traveling on Michigan near Military and the driver was suspected of being under the influence.
Officers drove toward the area and observed a vehicle matching the suspect description turn onto southbound Outer Drive. The officers followed and observed the van weaving between traffic lanes and driving erratically. They initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, who verbally identified himself.
The officers reported that the driver smelled strongly of intoxicants and spoke with slow, slurred speech. There were also several open beer cans throughout the interior of the vehicle.
The driver was removed from the vehicle and given several field sobriety tests, which he failed, before submitting to a preliminary breath test to assess his blood alcohol content.
The driver registered a blood alcohol content of 0.216 percent, or almost three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent allowable for driving in Michigan.
The man was arrested, handcuffed, searched and transported to the police department. The vehicle was towed from the scene and impounded.
Man arrested for warrants
A 27-year-old Detroit man was arrested for two outstanding warrants following a traffic stop on Mercury Drive at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 21.
An officer patrolling the Wal-mart parking lot observed a 2004 Ford Taurus traveling through the lot with the driver not wearing a seatbelt. The officer initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver and passenger of the vehicle, both of whom presented their driver’s licenses to the officer.
A check of the occupants showed that the passenger was wanted for two outstanding warrants for malicious destruction of property from Wayne County Circuit Court. The man was arrested, handcuffed, searched and transported to the police department for holding.
The driver was advised about not wearing his seatbelt and released at the scene.
At the police department, the officer contacted Detroit police and arranged a pickup of the passenger.
Dearborn Heights
Items stolen from vehicles
Police were called to investigate the theft of catalytic converters from vehicle parked at Stan’s Garage, 24301 W. Warren Ave., at 8 a.m. Aug. 25.
Officers arrived and spoke with an employee, who said that sometime over the weekend someone had entered the property and cut off the catalytic converters on three parked vehicles. The employee said the building was unoccupied and that it has security cameras but they were not operational over the weekend.
No suspect information was available and nothing of evidentiary value was found at the scene.
Shed broken into
A resident called police at 3:40 p.m. Aug. 20 after discovering that several items were stolen from his shed in the 25200 block of Hopkins.
The victim told police he had last been in the shed, which is behind the garage in the backyard at the residence, the previous day at 6:30 p.m. When he went to it Aug. 20, he discovered that the door had been pried open and that a snowblower, edger and weed trimmer were missing. He said he didn’t hear or see anything suspicious overnight.
The victim’s mother-in-law said that around 6 or 7 a.m. she looked into the backyard and saw an older white male with gray hair and a thin build walking through the backyard. The woman yelled at the man and asked what he was doing in the yard, which caused the man to flee from the scene on foot.
Police are investigating the incident.
Lincoln Park
Birds taken during break-in
Police are looking for one or more burglars and two exotic birds after responding to a breaking-and-entering call and report of stolen pets.
According to police reports, a house in the 1900 block of Anne was broken into the afternoon of Aug. 23 while the owner was away for less than four hours. Two birds were stolen: a female blue and gold macaw named Nikki and a green and gold Amazon parrot named Sam, who has a silver ID tag on his left leg.
The pets were valued at $2,000 each. Police checked for evidence and noted that a window screen had been pushed up, and fingerprints were taken from the sill and surrounding aluminum siding.
Teen thief nabbed after trade-in
Police took into custody a 14-year-old they believe responsible for the theft of a video game system and several games.
According to police reports, a homeowner in the 1500 block of Liberty returned home at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 and discovered the theft of a $300 X-Box 360, two controllers and four games, taken from an upstairs bedroom. Police noted an air conditinioning unit that was dangling loose below the open window, the likely point of entry.
Three days later, the woman called police and reported having located some of the stolen property at Game Stop at 1867 Southfield Road, and that she and the owner had matched serial numbers to confirm that some of the items had been traded in by a teenage customer.
Investigators spoke first with the boy’s father, who took the 14-year-old to the police station where he admitted to having stolen and then traded in the system and games. The matter was referred to juvenile authorities for further investigation.
Laptop, games stolen from home
Police are investigating a burglary call from a house in the 1500 block of Gregory, in which several hundred dollars worth of electronics were stolen.
The homeowner told police he had been away from home most of Aug. 23, and returned to discover the theft of an HP Laptop computer, a hunting knife and several video games.
Police checked for evidence and found no sign of forced entry. An unlocked window appeared to have been the point of entry.
Melvindale
It was fine when I left
When a man parked his car in his driveway in the 18000 block of Hanna Avenue the night of Aug. 10, it was in one piece. But the following morning it was disheveled inside and he realized someone broke into the vehicle. The man called police saying the glove box was open, which was loaded with ammunition for a 9-millimeter Glock.
The victim told police that three black males were standing around his house the previous night and appeared suspicious.
I am who I say I am
A man told police Aug. 13 that someone has been using his identity to open accounts. He told police he was trying to move to another apartment and discovered that he had unpaid DTE bills. The man further claimed he had other accounts taken out in his name, but he had no paperwork to prove it.
He was given a pamphlet on identity theft and told to seek identity protection.
Mini bike missing
A man living in the 17000 block of Wood Avenue told police his garage door was kicked in and his mini bike was stolen. The man didn’t have the serial number or vehicle identification number, but he said it was a 1999 silver Chopper with Harley Davidson flame stickers on the gas tank and electrical tape holding wires in place on the gas tank.
Southgate
Thieves target unlocked cars
Police responded twice within a few days to reports of valuables being taken from parked vehicles that had been left unlocked overnight.
According to police reports, a man discovered on Aug. 20 that someone had broken into his car, parked in front of her house in the 13000 block of Rosedale. The center console had been opened, contents found on the seat, and missing items included his wallet, an undisclosed amount of cash, credit and debit cards and identification.
On Aug. 23, a woman said she didn’t remember locking her car the night before, parked in front of her house in the 12000 block of Orange. Among the items taken were a $250 Coach purse, an undisclosed amount of cash, identification and credit cards.
Police found no signs of forced entry or other evidence at the locations.
Trenton
Suspended driver nearly collides with patrol car
A police officer on patrol was nearly struck by a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina that was backing out of a space in the parking lot of Bristol Hills Apartments near Van Horn and Fort Street.
According to police reports, the officer hit the brakes and swerved to avoid a collision, and then signaled for the driver to stop.
The motorist said he hadn’t seen the patrol car, and admitted that his license had been suspended. A check with the Law Enforcement Information Network reported three warrants had been issued on the driver from Eastpointe, Roseville and Detroit, and has four current suspensions.
The driver was taken into custody for processing on the warrants before being released.
(Compiled by James Mitchell, Tereasa Nims and Bob Oliver.)