Allen Park
Monday wakeup call: Work truck, tools stolen from driveway
A man living in the 3900 block of Wall Avenue had a rough Monday morning Dec. 3 when he discovered his company truck and $30,000 worth of equipment were stolen overnight from his driveway.
The company vehicle, a 2007 red Ford Super Duty truck, with an attached crane and welder, was parked 10 p.m. the night before and discovered missing at 5:30 a.m. Dec. 3. There was no broken glass found in the driveway, and the employee said he was in possession of both sets of keys. He was advised to create a detailed list of the tools that were in the truck.
A bulletin was issued to neighboring police departments, and Downriver Central Dispatch entered the vehicle as stolen in the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Drunken driver stuck off-road near railroad tracks
Police officers were called to Wick Road east of the Consolidated Rail Corp. tracks the night of Dec. 7 where a drunken driver in a 2011 Ford Taurus was stuck in gravel near a section of track which was not designed to be crossed. When officers approached, the driver was spinning the vehicle’s front wheels to no avail.
The man was instructed to turn off and exit his vehicle. As he approached, he smelled strongly of intoxicants and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot. He said he had been at Thunderbowl Lanes, where he admitted to having “a few beers and three shots.”
He said he lived in Taylor near Southfield Road and Fort Street, which is an intersection in Lincoln Park. He said he remembered driving west on Wick Road, but did not know how or why his vehicle left the roadway, and he did not know where he was at that point in time.
The man consented to numerous field sobriety tests, all of which he failed, with his speech slurred and his dexterity and walking ability compromised.
A preliminary breath test was administered, and the man had a blood alcohol content of 0.17, more than twice the 0.08 limit for legally drunk in Michigan.
He was charged with operating while impaired, and taken to the police station, where he was booked and held, and his vehicle was impounded and towed.
Dearborn
Woman arrested for driving with suspended license
While on patrol in the area of Michigan Avenue and Oakman Boulevard Nov. 18, police observed a vehicle with a dangling necklace hanging from the rear view mirror in the left lane of eastbound Michigan Avenue.
The silver Dodge Caliber changed lanes quickly from the left lane to the right lane and pulled into a Marathon gas station. According to the report, while the vehicle was changing lanes it never took full control of the middle and right lanes.
A traffic stop was conducted in the gas station parking lot where contact was made with the driver who provided a Virginia identification card to police. The driver said she has a Michigan driver’s license but recently lost it. She was also unable to provide proof of insurance.
A check of the driver’s record revealed that her driver’s license was suspended and two warrants from Dearborn with bonds totaling $700.
She was arrested for driving with a suspended license and placed under a $500 bond along with a citation for no proof of insurance.
Police arrest man for marijuana possession, failing to obey
While on patrol Nov. 18, police observed a 1999 Toyota Corolla traveling north on Littlefield Boulevard from Morross with a vision obstruction on the vehicle.
The officer conducted a traffic stop on Tireman at Oakman where he noticed a strong order or marijuana emanating from the vehicle he made contact with the driver. When asked for his driver’s license, the driver replied by asking why he was being pulled over.
The officer informed the driver of the infraction and again asked for the driver’s license, when the driver said he had neither a license nor any form of identification. According to the report, the driver was asked to turn off the vehicle and hand the keys to the officer, but he said he would not hand the keys over.
The driver continued to refuse the officer’s orders to exit the vehicle, and when the officer attempted to open the driver’s side, there was no door handle. The officer then looked inside the vehicle to see if the door could be opened from the inside but there was no door handle as well.
When police instructed both the driver and passenger to keep their hands on the dashboard, but both frequently removed their hands from the dashboard and were reminded repeatedly. The passenger was removed from the vehicle and two officers arrived at the scene to assist.
The driver finally opened the door, upon which a subsequent search revealed a small plastic bag of suspected marijuana in his left pants project. A credit card with his name also was found, and a MIDRS photo confirmed the driver’s identification.
The driver was arrested for driving with a suspended license, possession of marijuana and failure to obey with a $500 bond each. While at the police station, the driver refused booking and was placed in a cell. He was also placed under a $500 bond for refusing booking.
Man arrested for driving with suspended license, warrant
Police on patrol Nov. 18 observed a blue 2003 Pontiac Vibe traveling west on Michigan Avenue with a cracked windshield.
The vehicle was in the turn-only lane on eastbound Michigan Avenue at Mason, and once the light turned green the driver continued driving straight into westbound turn only lane. A traffic stop was conducted in the parking lot of a BP gas station where contact was made with the driver.
According to the report, the driver said he did not have a valid driver’s license which was confirmed by a LEIN check. A warrant from the 19th District Court for a handicap parking violation with a $276 bond also was revealed on the background search.
Dearborn Heights
Home Depot employee fired, arrested for embezzlement
Police responded to Home Depot, 25451 Michigan Ave., Nov. 27 after a woman was accused of embezzling over $800 from the store.
Loss Prevention Officer told police an employee and customer worked together to embezzle items from the store on five different occasions since July.
According to the report, the employee would scan the items at her cash register, void the items and allow the man to leave the store without payment.
The LPO told police the man who acted as a customer was the same man involved in all of the embezzlement transitions. The woman did not respond to questions asked by police.
She was arrested for embezzlement and transported to the Dearborn Heights police station.
The woman was fired as a result of $813 embezzling from the store and was banned from all Home Depot stores for five years and she.
Police were given security camera video of the five incidents and a copy of each transaction that took place between the employee and unidentified man.
Suspect flees Walgreens following armed robbery
Police are searching for a man allegedly involved in an armed robbery Dec. 5 at Walgreens, 8706 N. Telegraph Road.
According to the report, the man entered the store, then entered the cooler and walked behind the office, and waited for an employee to enter. The man then held the employee at gunpoint, demanding all the money available and ordering the employee to unplug the camera system. After getting the money, he fled on foot east on Joy Road toward Detroit.
The robber was described as a light-skinned black male, approximately 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, 150 to 170 pounds, and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black stocking cap and gloves.
Lincoln Park
Online buyer duped by eBay scammer
A 53-year-old Lincoln Park man reported Nov. 30 that he was scammed by an eBay seller Nov. 25 when he provided an eBay gift card number and PIN over the phone to purchase a Kubota tractor, but he was never asked to provide shipping information, did not receive the equipment, and email and phone contact with the purported seller was cut off. He said the eBay fraud division directed him to file a police report. Police personnel advised him that sellers asking for gift card numbers over the phone is a likely indicator of a fraudulent intent.
Zombie dolls disappear without a trace
A 51-year-old Lincoln Park woman living in the 3000 block of Electric Avenue reported Nov. 27 that a Zombie Samantha doll, valued at $100, and 15 Zombie baby dolls, valued at $30 each, were stolen between 6 p.m. Nov. 26 and 7 a.m. Nov. 27 from an unlocked garage. She said her husband may know whether additional items were stolen from the garage, but said he was at work and unreachable at the time of the report. There were no surveillance cameras in the area, and no suspects.
Melvindale
House window broken by unknown vandal
A pellet gun or a small tool may have been used to damage the front window of a house in the 3700 block of Demean Avenue. The resident, a 28-year-old woman, reported the damage — about the size of a baseball — the morning of Dec. 7, but said she was not sure when the window was broken. She estimated that it will cost about $300 to replace the window. There were no suspects.
Gale Gardens vehicle impounded, not stolen
A 26-year-old woman living in Gale Gardens Apartments got some good news and bad news the morning of Dec. 9 when she learned her 2015 Chevy Equinox was not stolen, but impounded. A Melvindale police officer ran her license plate the evening before, and found the plate to be invalid because she did not have verifiable insurance for the vehicle.
Riverview
Traffic stop nets driver with active warrant
Two patrol officers on stationary surveillance on Pennsylvania Avenue near Fort Street the night of Nov. 23 saw a white 2000 Cadillac Escalade with the license plate light not functional. A subsequent run of the plate revealed an active felony warrant in Macomb County for the registered owner, a Lincoln Park man. A traffic stop was initiated, and the man was found to have an active warrant out of Taylor. The man was arrested and taken to Taylor, where officers took him into custody. His vehicle was impounded and towed.
Domestic assault suspect arrested
Just after midnight Nov. 21, Riverview police officers assisted Flat Rock police officers by seeking out a domestic assault suspect thought to be living at a Riverview address. The suspect answered the door at the address provided, was taken into custody, and was driven to a store parking lot near Telegraph and West roads, where a Flat Rock police officer took the person into custody.
Southgate
Vehicle stolen while driver eats
A blue 2011 Chrysler 200 was stolen the evening of Dec. 3 from the south lot of Carrabba’s Italian Grill, 14805 Dix Toledo Road. The vehicle owner has both set of keys. There were no suspects. The vehicle was entered in the Law Enforcement Information Network as stolen.
Wallet stolen out of purse in locked car
A 44-year-old woman who left her purse in her locked 2008 silver Town and Country minivan while she worked out from 7:30 to 8:40 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Downriver Family YMCA, 16777 Northline, Southgate reported that her wallet was stolen, while her purse was left behind.
The orange Michael Kors wallet contained $30, her driver’s license, eight credit cards and a debit card. She said she didn’t notice the wallet was missing until she went to a store after her workout. She said that she has the only vehicle keys, and there was no damage to her vehicle. She said she was in the process of cancelling her credit and debit cards, and had not discovered any unauthorized transactions.
Taylor
Cigarette smash-and-grab sets off alarms
A surveillance video captured footage of a thief stealing cartons of cigarettes in the early morning hours Dec. 8 from Wick-View Party Store, 9182 Mortenview Drive.
Police officers responded to two successive alarms, the second of which occurred when the original broken window was broken further, possibly giving the thief access to the store.
The man shown on surveillance video was white, thin, and wearing a grey hooded sweat shirt, blue jeans and black gloves. He stuffed cartons of cigarettes into a pink duffle bag and exited through a rear stockroom, from which he appears to have disengaged a deadbolt lock and exited through the rear door, which opens freely from the inside, after which it remains locked from the outside.
Trenton
Truck TP’d; hitch heisted
A man attending a high school hockey game the afternoon of Nov. 29 at the Kennedy Ice Arena, 3101 West Road, said that when he returned to his vehicle, an F-150 pickup, it was covered in toilet paper and the trailer hitch was missing. He said the hitch was an “E-Trailer Weigh Safe 2-ball mount, with a built in scale, 3-inch hitch and an 8-inch drop.” There were no suspects.
Government laptop stolen from locked car
A black backpack with a government-issued Dell laptop computer and two Verizon MiFi Hotspots was reported stolen between 5 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 from a black Ford Focus parked at Truago Restaurant, 2275 W. Jefferson.
Wyandotte
Hallucinating man runs through neighborhood in underwear
Multiple calls from witnesses prompted police officers to respond to the area of 8th Street south of Goddard Road the night of Nov. 30 as a 30-year-old Wyandotte man, wearing just underwear, socks and one boot, was running down the middle of the street, sweating profusely. The responding officers saw him drop to his hands and knees, hallucinating, with dilated pupils.
His blue sweat pants were located down the street. The man said that day he had imbibed in a beer, Adderall, whip-its, heroin and crack cocaine. EMTs were summoned, and he was transported to Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital.
Driver with 23 license suspensions taken into custody
A 57-year-old Detroit man with 23 prior driver’s license suspensions and 11 prior license plate confiscations was taken into custody the afternoon of Dec. 4 when two stationary patrol officers noticed a defective brake light on his blue Chevy S-10 pickup.
Another officer arrived on the scene, and gave the passenger a courtesy ride to his nearby doctor’s appointment.
During a search of the vehicle, a Ruger LCP, a subcompact pocket pistol, with a full magazine and an additional round in the chamber was found in the drop-down ceiling compartment of the vehicle, as well as an extra loaded magazine. The pistol was registered to a person other than the man in custody, who did not possess a Concealed Pistol License.
The vehicle was impounded and towed, and the plate destroyed. The man was taked into custody, booked, and housed. A DNA collection kit was also collected and processed.
(Compiled by Zeinab Najm and Sue Suchyta.)