Allen Park
Drunken driver riding on rim, boxed in by witness
A 23-year-old Allen Park woman was reported by witnesses the afternoon of April 11 after she nearly hit several other motorists and was veering all over the road, with her right front passenger side wheel down to the rim. The woman had stopped and parked at Allen Park High School, where a witness boxed her in until officers arrived.
The woman smelled strongly of intoxicants, and had watery, bloodshot eyes and a glassy stare. She admitted to drinking, but did not recall how much, or where she imbibed. She was also not sure of her destination in the city.
The woman said she had hit another vehicle, but did not recall where, or what kind of vehicle she hit. She was then given several field sobriety tests, all of which she failed. A preliminary breath test was administered, and the woman had a blood-alcohol content of 0.11, higher than the 0.08 limit for legally drunk in Michigan.
She was arrested for driving while intoxicated, and taken to the station, where she was booked and processed, then transported to the Dearborn police station to be held. Her vehicle was impounded and towed.
Tequila thief found hiding in brush
A 35-year-old Huron Township man, a habitual shoplifter, was found by the Southgate Police K-9 unit after he fled from Meijer, 3165 Fairlane Drive, the afternoon of April 12, with a $70 bottle of Roca Patron Silver Tequila.
Loss prevention personnel told police officers while they were en route that the suspect had fled toward I-94 on foot. His girlfriend was sitting in a car in the lot, and told the officers that she was familiar with his retail fraud predilection, and said he had been in trouble repeatedly recently.
When officers failed to find the man during a foot search by behind Meijer, the K-9 unit responded, and the man was found hiding under a thick pile of brush. When the suspect was searched, a one gram bag of marijuana was found in his possession.
When the man was found, he had a facial cut, which he said he sustained when he fell and was hit in the face with the bottle of stolen tequila.
He was booked and processed, and charged with second degree retail fraud, possession of a controlled substance and obstructing police, as well as other outstanding warrants. He was taken to the Dearborn Police Department and held.
Lincoln Park
Key stolen one day, car the next
The car key of an employee of Turning Point Clubhouse, Community Care Services, 1605 Fort St., was stolen from her desk drawer on March 23, and her car stolen from behind her workplace a day later.
The woman said that when the key was initially discovered missing, she had a locksmith open her car, a green 2011 Honda Civic, to see if the key was inside the vehicle, but it was not. She said she was unable to lock the vehicle without the key, and left it behind her workplace until the next day, when she planned to return with a new key. However, between 9 a.m. and noon March 24, the vehicle was stolen. The woman was advised to check surveillance video from nearby businesses. The car was entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network as stolen.
Possible stolen car impounded
A man who claimed his ex-girlfriend stole his car, and also stole the title and changed it to her name, was unable to claim the car March 24 at the woman’s workplace because police were uncertain who owned the car, which was subsequently impounded.
Officers were called to Hustler Club, 980 John A. Papalas Drive, where a 22-year-old man claimed the 2007 blue Chrysler Sebring in the parking lot of his ex-girlfriend’s workplace was his, and the man had reported the car as stolen with Warren police. However, a check of the Law Enforcement Information Network showed the title was in the woman’s name.
However, a check of the woman showed that she had an active warrant with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, so she was taken into custody and transported to Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck.
Melvindale
Furnace, air conditioner stolen from vacant house prior to renovation
A contractor hired to work on a vacant house in the 17000 block of Clarann reported the afternoon of April 14 that a month prior, the air conditioning system and furnace were missing from the house. The client eventually advised him to file a police report.
Gale Gardens apartment burglarized
Residents of a Gale Gardens apartment reported the night of April 14 that their locked apartment door had been forced open and electronics, personal possessions and their rent money stolen.
Police officers observed cracks on the entry door and saw the face plate was broken away. The residents said the deadbolt lock had been engaged when they left. Among the items stolen were two 55-inch Sharp 4K smart TVs, valued at $600 each, a $500 Xbox gaming system, a $500 Nintendo gaming system, a bank with $300 in cash and coins, $662 in rent money, $300 worth of shoes, a $100 portable Bluetooth speaker, and two comforters, valued at $40 each.
Riverview
Tools taken from unlocked van and garage
A man in the 18000 block of Koester reported the afternoon of March 27 that more than a $1,000 in tools were stolen from his unlocked work van and unlocked garage overnight. Neighbors reported that they saw teenagers looking into car windows late that night.
Among the items stolen were a Hitachi electric screwdriver, hammer drill, drill and saw; drill supplies; a Rigid drill and impact power tool, and miscellaneous tools in a bag. Neighbors said they heard the man’s dogs barking between midnight and 1 a.m., and the dogs only bark when people approach the house.
Work van stolen with salvaged water tanks
A man in the 13000 block of Sibley reported the afternoon of April 3 that his 2000 white Ford E-250 van was stolen between 11 a.m. April 2 and 12:30 p.m. April 3 from his driveway while he was out of town. He said he had both sets of keys. He said there were several old, used water tanks in the back of the van. There were no suspects.
Southgate
Body builder burglarized
A man in the 15000 block of Oakleigh reported the morning of April 12 that two bottles of nitric oxide pills and a black Nike gym bag with a weightlifting belt, gloves, knee braces, headphones and athletic shoes were stolen from his unlocked 2006 gold Dodge Ram truck overnight. He said that nothing else in the truck had been gone through.
Woman’s identity, money stolen by scammer
A woman living in the 15000 block of Drysdale reported on April 13 that she thinks she was scammed by someone impersonating a friend, who said she had won a sweepstakes.
The woman said she received text messages saying she had won a $50,000 sweepstakes, and her name, Social Security Number and birth date were needed to verify her identity. The person then instructed her to send $850 through Western Union, which canceled the transaction. The woman was then instructed to purchase Amazon gift cards and send an image of the codes on the back of the cards to obtain her prize.
When the woman did not receive her prize, she called her friend, who said she did not send the message.
Taylor
Larceny by trick
A 55-year-old Taylor woman filed a walk-in police report the night of April 5 when she realized she had been scammed while trying to resolve an issue with her Facebook application on her cell phone.
The woman said she tried to find a number for Facebook help by doing a Goggle search. She called a phone number she found online, and the man who answered requested $500 in iTune gift cards to fix her application. The woman purchased the gift cards, called the man back, and read him the numbers to activate the gift cards.
However, when her Facebook account was still malfunctioning, she called the man back, and he demanded an additional $400, at which point she realized she had been tricked.
A police check of the Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System revealed multiple theft claims associated with the phone number. She was advised to not send any more money over the phone using gift cards.
Witnesses say woman hid change, claimed she was short-changed
Witnesses at the BP gas station at Eureka and Beech Daly at 12:43 a.m. April 4 said a woman tried to hide some of her change after paying for a gasoline purchase, and prevented other customers from paying, while complaining she was short-changed $10 by the cashier. The cashier called the police when the woman prevented other customers from paying for their purchases, and refused to leave.
When officers arrived and advised the woman of her options, she became belligerent, and started using profanity in front of the other customers, one of whom had a child with her. The woman then escalated the situation, and told the officers to “f— off,” at which point she was arrested, handcuffed, patted down for weapons and placed in the patrol car. She was taken to the police station, where she was issued a misdemeanor arrest citation for disturbing the peace.
Trenton
Check in the mail
A woman filed a walk-in fraud complaint the evening of April 16, and provided officers with a check and letter she received via priority mail from an out-of-state credit union. The letter requested her to cash the $2,465 check for the sender. The woman said she realized the communication was fraudulent, which she verified an online background screening service, who advised her to file a police report.
Scammer threatens to cut electrical service
A woman filed a fraud report the afternoon of April 7 when she realized she had been scammed by a fake DTE representative.
She said the man who called said they owed $700 for work that was done in January, and if she did not pay, her power would be shut off. She was told to purchase a prepaid Green Dot MoneyPak card. Since she had work done during that time, she thought the request was legitimate.
The woman purchased two prepaid cards. After providing the numbers for the $300 card, her husband grew suspicious, and called a DTE service line, who told him DTE was not calling for payment, and advised them to file a police report.
Wyandotte
Man maces multiple victims in hospital waiting room
Officers responded to the the emergency waiting room at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital at 1:36 a.m. April 2 after a man was pepper sprayed by his sister’s boyfriend, a 28-year-old River Rouge man, who then took off in the car belonging to his victim’s sister, a tan Chevy Cobalt. Two other people in the waiting room, who were nearby, were also adversely affected by the spray, one of whom was asthmatic.
The man who was the primary target of the spray said he had gotten into an argument with his sister’s boyfriend because their father was in the hospital, but the boyfriend was not supportive, and wanted to leave. The two exchanged words, and the boyfriend pepper sprayed the brother and fled. Officers patrolled the area for the car, but were unable to locate it.
Drunken man falls off moped multiple times
A 56-year-old Wyandotte man was traveling west on Vinewood near 6th Street the night of April 2 when an officer saw him fall off his moped twice, and helped him extricate himself the second time.
The man, who smelled of intoxicants, had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and had a slow reaction time answering questions. It also took three requests for the officer to get the man to retrieve his identification. The man said he had been drinking earlier at a bar on Oak Street. He agreed to field sobriety tests, which he failed.
A preliminary breath test was administered, and the man had a blood-alcohol content of 0.215, almost three times the 0.08 limit for legally drunk in Michigan.
The man was taken to the station for booking, and when he was searched, one-and-a-half Hydrocodone pills were found in his possession. He had four prior alcohol-related convictions, and was ineligible to drive. His moped was impounded and forfeited.
(Compiled by Zeinab Najm and Sue Suchyta.)