ALLEN PARK
Parents walk off with lost cell phone child found
A woman who lost her cell phone Aug. 19 at Target, 3100 Fairlane Drive, discovered while viewing security footage with store loss prevention personnel that she accidentally dropped her phone in the self-checkout area, which was picked up by a small child in line behind her. The child then handed the phone to her parents, who left the store with it, without making any attempt to turn it in to the service desk.
The cell phone, an S7 Samsung, was not pass code locked. The parents posted pornographic material on the woman’s Facebook page and Snapchat account. The woman closed the accounts, and changed credit card information that was stored on the phone.
After the woman filed a police report, officers said they can request store surveillance video to see whether they can identify the adults and capture the license plate number of their vehicle.
Excavator, trailer stolen from construction site
A Caterpillar excavator and trailer were stolen between 3:30 p.m. Aug. 11 and 7:10 a.m. Aug. 14 from a construction site at the northeast corner of the Southfield Service Drive and Oakwood Boulevard. A construction site manager for Underground Contractors Inc. said the excavator was parked next to the trailer, but not on it. The manager said tracks at the site tend to support the contention that the excavator was loaded onto the trailer, a 15-foot black and red flatbed Towmaster JT1220 with a water tank, pump and hoses.
DEARBORN
Train hits vehicle after man drives onto tracks
Police responded to Michigan Avenue and Gulley Aug. 13 on a report of a vehicle that was hit by a train.
Once on the scene, officers saw the red Chevrolet stuck against the front of the train. The driver told police he exited the vehicle before it was struck by the train and that he wasn’t injured. There was no damage to the train or the tracks.
While speaking with the man officers noticed he smelled of alcohol and his eyes were glassy and red. When asked if he had been drinking the man said he had four drinks and had just left the Silver Criket.
He was also confused as to how his vehicle ended upon the railroad tracks, saying, “I drove a dead end street and it wasn’t marked.”
The man was driving south on Westwood leaving the roadway where the street becomes a dead end then drove up the grassy hill onto the tracks where the vehicle was stuck.
According to the police report, the conductor saw the vehicle on the tracks, heard the driver hit the horn and saw him wave his arms at the train. The conductor attempted to stop but struck the vehicle while traveling 25 mph after the man exited.
Officers conducted field sobriety tests and took the driver’s blood alcohol which was .183 — more than twice the legal limit in Michigan of .08 — just before 1 a.m. following the incident.
He was arrested for his second offense of operating while intoxicated and placed under a $500 bond.
Driver arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia
While on patrol police Aug. 14, police observed a white Lexus sedan parked in the alley south of Gould between Steadman and Ternes, known to officers as a common place for people to use narcotics or smoke marijuana.
Officers approached the vehicle and noticed the driver made furtive gestures toward the floor board. When the driver rolled down his window a cloud of smoke that had a strong odor of marijuana came out of the vehicle. Police asked the driver if he had been smoking marijuana which he admitted to and then handed over a glass pipe with marijuana reside.
The driver told officers there was no other marijuana in the vehicle. He was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.
While speaking with he driver, officers recognized the passenger from a previous police experience where he was arrested in the same alley for possession of a controlled substance.
The passenger said he had local warrants on his record and missed court dates for the multiple warrants. He was arrested for the warrants.
The warrant included four for driving with a suspended license with $50, $680, $180 and $30 bonds, and three for possession of controlled substance with $1,000, $755 and $1,000 bonds, all in Dearborn. Another warrant out of Novi was listed for retail fraud with a $500 bond.
DEARBORN HEIGHTS
Man arrested for skipping out on his bill
Police responded to Ram’s Horn, 4900 Telegraph Road, Aug. 8 after a man fled the restaurant without paying his bill.
The manager said the man ate his meal and then attempted to pay with a credit card that was declined. The man then told employees he had cash in his vehicle to pay for the bill but did not return to the restaurant.
When the man did not return, the manager began chasing him. Officers found the manager and man at Van Born and Bailey.
The man was arrested for defrauding an innkeeper.
Man steals cellphone after responding to seller’s ad
The victim of a cellphone robbery told officers his cellphone was stolen Aug. 15 by a man who agreed to purchase it.
According to the police report, the victim used the application 5Miles to list his Samsung Galaxy S6 and a $225 price was established for the cellphone. An exchange was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. outside the victim’s house in the 5750 block of McMillan with a man who lived in Highland Park, according to the app.
The man arrived in a silver sedan, sitting in the passenger seat when the exchange took place. As soon as the victim handed the man the cellphone the vehicle fled north on McMillan.
The victim described the thief as a black male in his mid-20s but was not able to see the driver to provide police with a description.
LINCOLN PARK
Work truck, tools stolen from residential area
A 2001 red Ford F-550 truck along with $10,000 worth of tools and supplies was stolen shortly after midnight July 29 from a residential area in the 1800 block of University. Security video shows the vehicle being stolen at 12:05 a.m., but details of the person stealing it are not visible on the footage. The victim said the vehicle was locked and he had all the keys in his possession. Officers found no broken glass where the vehicle had been parked.
Items stolen from construction contractor’s truck cab
A construction contractor parked at 7-Eleven, 1010 Southfield Road, reported at 4:46 a.m. July 31 that his iPhone, wallet with $70 in cash, credit cards and other identity items, and a charger/power converter were stolen from the unlocked cab of his truck, which was parked on the east side of the building, when he went into the store for five minutes. He said he had been doing work at the site and had been in and out of his truck all night.
MELVINDALE
Bicycles stolen from backyard
A woman in the 2500 block of David Avenue reported at 11:23 a.m. Aug. 13 that her and her son’s unsecured bicycles were stolen from their backyard. She said her bicycle was a yellow Beach Cruiser with a black basket, whitewall tires and tribal design stickers on the frame. Her son’s bicycle was a reddish-orange BM-style Mongoose with a broken kickstand and a ripped seat. She said several nearby businesses have security cameras that may have captured the theft on their security footage.
Sleeping man awakened by storm door hit
A man who fell asleep in the living room of his house in the 19500 block of Harmon said he was awakened about 11:50 p.m. Aug. 13 when he heard something hit his front door and a vehicle with a loud muffler driving away. He said when he opened his front door to investigate, glass from the broken storm door window fell into the house. The man said he did not see the vehicle driving away, and he could think of no one with whom he has a problem.
SOUTHGATE
License plate stolen from elderly woman’s car
The niece of an elderly woman who uses her aunt’s car to drive her places reported at 5:22 p.m. Aug. 14 that the license plate was missing from the woman’s 2002 silver Ford Focus. There were no suspects, and the plate was entered in the Law Enforcement Information Network as stolen.
Debit, credit cards stolen from unlocked vehicle and used
A woman in the 1300 of Catalpa reported at 5:01 p.m. Aug. 14 that a debit card and a credit card were stolen from her wallet which she had left in her unlocked 2016 Ford Explorer. When the woman contacted the card providers to cancel the accounts she was told that an unauthorized $230 charge had been made to the credit card that morning. There were no suspects.
TRENTON
Former roommate opens fraudulent Comcast account
A resident reported at 4:31 p.m. Aug. 9 that a former roommate had used his personal information in May 2015 to open a Comcast account, and Comcast advised them to file a fraud report with police. The complainant was given an identify theft packet and advised to contact credit bureaus to see if any other accounts had been fraudulently opened in their name.
Firebird fury
A man filed an informational report with police at 4:46 p.m. Aug. 7 after he noticed a black 2002 Pontiac Firebird parked near his vehicle that he thinks might belong to a man who could be stalking him following a tailgating incident that escalated into road rage.
The man said at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 4 he was tailgating the Firebird, which was moving slowly, claiming that his actions were not antagonistic. The Firebird driver, however, took issue with his tailgating, and the driver and passenger pulled over and threw two beer bottles at his vehicle, one of which hit his windshield.
The man said he wants to document the sighting in case something else occurs. He said he had a passenger in his vehicle who witnessed the original road rage. The man described the Firebird driver as as white male, about 30 years old with a stocky build.
WYANDOTTE
Traffic stop for vehicle without license plate leads to drug arrest
An officer northbound on Biddle Avenue near Emmons at 10:14 a.m. Aug. 22 spotted a blue Chrysler Town and Country van with no visible license plate, from which the odor of marijuana emanated.
The driver, a 30-year-old Detroit woman, provided the officer with her driver’s license, proof of insurance and registration. The passenger, a 37-year-old Lincoln Park man, said the vehicle was his but was registered in his mother’s name.
The male passenger said he had been smoking marijuana in the vehicle. Both consented to a vehicle search. Another officer arrived on the scene to assist. The man was checked for weapons, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a patrol car. The woman exited the vehicle and waited nearby.
During the police search of the vehicle, marijuana was found in the vehicle, and the man and the woman were both given citations.
When the officer handed the man his citation, a clear plastic bag that appeared to contain crack cocaine and heroin fell from the inside of his shorts to the ground. The man looked at the bag and started to run from the scene. He was electronically subdued, re-handcuffed, and taken into custody.
The man started to resist physically, kicking and yelling. When he was placed in the back of the patrol car he started hitting his head on the bars covering the windows and tried to kick his way out of the back seat. He refused to stop his actions until sprayed with a chemical deterrent.
The man was charged with possession of crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and for resisting and obstructing police. The woman was arrested for loitering where drugs are used, kept or stored. Upon questioning she admitted to having 10 Oxycontin pills and 23 Xanax pills in a plastic bag in a body cavity. After a search produced the pills she was charged with possession. The vehicle and their cash were seized under drug forfeiture laws.
(Compiled by Zeinab Najm and Sue Suchyta.)