Allen Park
Smoothie wasn’t: Gravel, coins found in cup
A man who ordered two smoothies the afternoon of Sept. 7 from a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Taylor, which arrived via the delivery service Door Dash, found small pebbles and two coins in the bottom of his drink cup. It was unknown if the food tampering occurred at the restaurant or was the result of contamination by the driver. Both the store and the delivery service were working with the customer to resolve the problem.
Dearborn
Business owner advised to stop dumping beverages down sewer
Police responded to 13161 Prospect Sept. 17 after a business owner said a neighboring business owner was taking photographs of his property, employees and customers.
The property owner said he felt it was illegal for the reporting owner to take pictures in public spaces. According to the police report, the reporting owner said he took photos of the other owner’s employees dumping large amounts of beverages down the storm drain sewer.
This dumping attracted large amounts of bees which the reporting owner’s wife was allergic. The reporting owner also said he took photos of the other owner’s customers parking on his private property.
Police advised the 13161 Prospect owner that he could not dump business waste down the sewers, to which he responded that he could because it was a liquid, but said he would stop. A city sewer department employee was contacted by police about the dumping and said he would send employees to check the sewer drains Sept. 18.
Vehicle break-in attempted
A resident called police to a house in the 4400 block of Bingham Sept. 18 after a man was observed trying to open all four doors on a Chevy Traverse.
When the man was unsuccessful opening the locked vehicle, he tried another vehicle across the street, which also was locked.
The resident was able to scare off the man who ran south on Jonathon then west on Osborne. According to the report, the resident believes he has seen the man in the area before and that he might live in apartments nearby.
The would-be intruder was described as a white male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
Dearborn Heights
6 bikes stolen from front porch
Police were dispatched to a house in the 570 block of Amboy Sept. 14 on reports of six bikes missing. The caller said that between 6 p.m. Sept. 10 and 5 p.m. Sept. 13 the bikes were stolen from her front porch.
According to the report, the victim recently purchased the bikes for her children, and had an approximate value of $800, but was unable to provide officers with serial numbers to the bikes.
The victim found pictures of four bikes online and provided them to police.
The victim said that at the time of the robbery her security cameras were malfunctioning so a technician was supposed to come out and see if any footage was captured.
A unknown black Huffy brand bike that did not belong to any of her children was found in the victim’s front yard. There was no suspect information.
Man reports license plate missing
A man told police Sept. 18 that the license plate was stolen from his company-owned 2012 Chevy Malibu. According to the report, the victim parked the vehicle at Sts. Peter & Paul Banquet Hall, 750 N. Beech Daly Road, Sept. 17. The license plate was stolen between 3 and 7 p.m. that same day.
The hall did not have cameras for police to review and the license plate was entered into the Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network as stolen.
Lincoln Park
Free lunch program application fraudulently copied
A woman told police Sept. 10 that someone attempted to duplicate her young daughter’s application for the free school lunch program using her child’s My Star Michigan electronic benefit transfer account. The cloned application, however, lacked her daughter’s Social Security number. The woman said she had frozen her financial accounts and has filed for a new Michigan EBT account number.
Melvindale
Mentally ill flasher found drunk, begging
A mentally ill 57-year-old man living in Gale Gardens Apartments with his mother was reported on Sept. 6 for dropping trou and flashing people near the apartment complex. Police officers searched the area, and near Outer Drive and Dix Road found the man, intoxicated and panhandling for money and food. The officers, who did not see him commit a crime, advised him to leave the area and keep his clothes on.
Riverview
‘And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street’
An arrow of unknown origin traveled through a tree and struck a house the night of Sept. 4 in the 17000 block of Mulberry Street. A man said he and his wife were sitting inside their house when they heard a thud on the rear outside wall. Upon investigation, they found an arrow on the ground, underneath a rear south side window. The arrow was tagged and taken into evidence by police officers and the case was referred to the detective bureau.
Golden shoes, green cash stolen from unlocked car
A resident in the 17000 block of Bedford Street reported the afternoon of Sept. 2 that a pair of gold and black women’s size 7.5 Nike shoes, valued at $110 and $400 in cash were stolen from his unlocked Ford Edge, which was parked in his driveway overnight.
He said surveillance video shows three men near the vehicle at 4:34 a.m. The video did not reveal their facial details.
The day before, at 4:36 a.m., a resident in the 13000 block of Berkshire reported three men checking car door handles, looking for unlocked cars along the street. The suspects were reported to police officers, who were unable to locate the suspects.
Southgate
Fraudulent overdraft by more than $5,000
A man reported the morning of Aug. 29 that someone had opened an account in his name with a financial institution with whom he had never done business, for which he recently received a notice in the mail stating that the account was $5,530 overdrawn. The victim said the account was created in June or July. The man said he needed to file a police report before the financial institution would close out the account. The detective bureau asked the man to supply them with a list of account transactions, if possible, for further investigation.
Taylor
Macy’s charge card fraudulently used in City of Brotherly Love
A Southgate man filed a police report the morning of Sept. 18 after he learned his Macy’s American Express card had been used five times in Philadelphia between Aug. 11 and 18 for $229 in total transactions. He said he did not know anyone in Philadelphia, had not been there, was in possession of the card and had not lent it to anyone. He said he has since canceled the credit card.
Trenton
Woman scammed for money through fake online relationship
A woman’s Friday the 13th took a turn for the worse when she discovered, and reported to police officers, that a man with whom she had cultivated an online relationship had swindled her out of $900 in gift card. The victim said the con artist, who pretended to be a U.S. Army captain, cultivated an online, long-distance relationship with her. He said he lived in Miami, was retiring from the military, and planned to send her a box, which would contain, among other items, a $40,000 check.
He then asked her to send him $900 in Goggle Play gift card codes, which she did. The man then asked for another $3,500, which made the woman suspicious. She subsequently discovered that his account was fake, and that she had been conned. She subsequently blocked all communications with him. She said she realized she had been scammed, but wanted to document the fraud for the record.
Man’s truck stolen a second time from Chrysler Engine Plant
A man’s black 2005 Chevy Silverado was stolen Sept. 10, for the second time, from the Chrysler Engine Plant, 2000 Van Horn Road. It was initially stolen from the plant parking lot last May, and subsequently recovered.
The man said there was window glass on the ground, and it was likely the thief had shattered the driver’s side window. The vehicle was taken without keys. He said he reported the incident to security personnel at the plant. The truck was entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network as stolen.
Wyandotte
Boat broken into; possible fingerprints left behind
A 37-foot sailboat was broken into at Silver Shores Marina, 3 James De Sana Drive, possibly on Sept. 3, and reported Sept. 5 by the owner. The thief appears to have entered through a skylight window hatch on deck, from which a bedroom below decks was accessed.
Reported stolen were cutlery knives and $100 worth of cigars. A mounted LCD screen was damaged in an attempt to remove it, but it was not taken. Other rooms were ransacked in a search for valuables.
The LCD screen, a wine glass, and other objects were taken to the police crime lab for possible fingerprint processing.
(Compiled by Zeinab Najm and Sue Suchyta.)