Allen Park
Items stolen at water treatment plant
Various items were stolen from a storage unit at the city’s water treatment plant, 14700 Moran, sometime before 8:30 a.m. May 17.
About that time, a project engineer at a contractor of the facility called to report that two storage units housed in the north end of the facility’s fenced-in yard had been broken into.
The engineer noticed the padlocks had been broken off the doors about 8 a.m. that day. They were last seen intact about 9 a.m. the day prior.
Sixteen stainless steel chain guards and 32 stainless steel pipes were missing from the units.
Teen arrested in ring theft
A 14-year-old Westland boy was arrested May 18 after allegedly robbing a couple he had met on Craigslist of a diamond ring.
The couple had made arrangements to meet a buyer at 9 p.m. in the parking lot of 23190 Outer Drive to sell the ring for $350 to a man and a woman they had spoken to over the phone after posting an ad on the web site.
About that time, the teen and an unidentified female accomplice approached them and asked to see the ring. The woman who owned it opened the box and the boy grabbed it and ran down the side walk. Her husband chased him and yelled at him to get on the ground. He complied. The female accomplice ran toward Hamilton and was not found.
A knife was found in the boy’s pockets. He told police a black man from his mobile home park told him to rob the couple of the ring and “stab them if necessary.”
The boy was arrested for unarmed robbery and was transported to the Allen Park Police Department where he was processed and transported to the Wayne County Youth Home.
Thief nets $50,000
A safe containing an estimated $50,000 was reported stolen from Allen Park Party Shoppe, 5228 Allen Road Monday.
About 9:15 a.m. that day, the owners noticed the office door was opened and damaged and the rear door to the building was taken off the hinges. The safe, weighing about 70 pounds, was missing.
Yard tools missing
A resident of the 7700 block of Osage Avenue reported the theft of various yard equipment about 10 a.m. May 19.
The resident said someone had entered his garage and stolen a lawnmower valued at $400 and a snowblower valued at $450.
He estimates the theft happened two to three days prior.
Dearborn
Men vandalize house, leave neighbor concerned
Four men are still on the loose after vandalizing a vacant house about 4 p.m. May 18 in the 1200 block of Beechmont.
The men forced open a wooden milk chute near the door of the vacant house and wrote obscenities on the walls and various parts of the house with graffiti markings. After a neighbor called the police, officers reported that the house smelled of fresh paint and there was urine on the ground in the main floor. Copper plumbing and packaged granite pieces were intact and nothing was stolen.
One of the men spray painted “your next” on an upstairs window facing a home.
The neighbor said he had previous problems with the owner of the house, which has been vacant for years. The neighbor’s daughter and babysitter said they saw shadows standing inside the house and did not seem to be acting suspicious, the report said.
When the men left the house there was no vehicle was spotted.
The vandals were described as either Middle Eastern or white, 13 to 15 years old, with a small to medium build and dark hair.
Woman’s ring stolen from under her nose
A woman reported to police that her ring was stolen about 4:30 p.m. May 19 in the 300 block of North Denwood. The woman was seated outside, with a 3-year-old child, when the child ran from her unexpectently. The woman, who was holding a gold ring at the time, put the ring down on top of her purse, to retrieve the child and when she came back, the ring was gone. The purse was still there.
Others seated on bleachers told her they were unaware of anyone taking the ring. The ring has not been found.
Dearborn Heights
Gaming system stolen from house
A gaming system was stolen about 12:20 a.m. May 21 in the 4000 block of Bedford. A person reported between the hours of 7 and 10 p.m. on May 20, an unknown offender removed the gaming system from the living room without permission and fled the location. The thief has not been found and it was not reported how the person entered the house.
Musical instrument stolen from van
A man left his van’s hatch open when he was moving some musical equipment about 11 p.m. May 20 in the 3000 block of Merrick. The man said when he returned to the van, he discovered his electric guitar was stolen. The guitar is valued at $3,000. No suspects were found.
Man scares off thieves who stole from him
A man found an unpleasant surprise waiting for him outside of his house at midnight, May 19, in the 4000 block of Merrick.
The man discovered a man sitting inside of his 2011 Ford Edge parked in his driveway. He also saw another man standing on the sidewalk, allegedly acting as a lookout. Both men are described as white. When the man went outside and confronted the suspect inside the vehicle, both men fled south then east through backyards. The man’s global positioning system unit was stolen from his vehicle and his glove box was rummaged through.
Lincoln Park
Force needed to halt vandal
An early Sunday morning spree of property destruction — along with an obscenity-laden challenge to police — sparked a physical confrontation with a suspect in the 1000 block of Harrison Boulevard.
Police responded to a resident’s call shortly after 4 a.m. reporting loud banging and glass-shattering noises from outside his home.
The man told police he saw a 22-year-old white man, thin, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans breaking out the windows of his vehicle, which was parked in his driveway. The man was hitting the windshields, doors and hood with a piece of wood.
Told the police had been called, the man began walking west towards Fort Street. While interviewing the victim, responding officers heard a man screaming obscenities from across the creek. Following the sound of the screaming, officers approached the suspect, who was breaking a nearby fence.
Officers observed several planks on the ground, and told the suspect to stop.
Instead, the suspect swore at police and started to leave. He was taken to the ground, yet continued to resist even after handcuffed and steered toward the patrol car. The suspect continued to scream obscenities at the officers, and reportedly started banging his face and head on the screen dividing the front and rear seats.
The man, a Wyandotte resident, was taken into custody and was awaiting arraignment.
Shoplifter caught leaving stores
Responding promptly to a store cashier’s report of a shoplifting in progress at Dollar General, 1119 Fort St., Lincoln Park Police located a man believed responsible for back-to-back store thefts.
The store manager called police shortly after 5 p.m. Monday and said that a white man wearing a black shirt and plaid shorts was in the store and had removed a wristwatch from its container, which he discarded on a shelf. The man placed other items in a shopping bag, including a CD and candy, and then walked past the cash registers and exited the store.
Outside, police approached the man and located the stolen merchandise in his bag.
Also in the bag were medications, cough drops and silicone lubricant with a total value of about $165. The man told police he recently bought the items at Walgreens, 1765 Fort St.
Investigating officers spoke with the manager at Walgreens, who confirmed that the man had been in the store but that he had not purchased anything. Video surveillance footage showed the man walking the store aisles.
Police took the man, a 43-year-old Wyandotte resident, into custody pending arraignment June 5.
Melvindale
Car damaged, suspects sought
A Dodge van belonging to a resident of the 17100 block of Palmer was reported damaged about 6 p.m. Tuesday.
About 10:30 p.m. the day prior, the resident said he heard a loud noise and when he went to look saw two black men about 6 feet tall fleeing south on Homestead away from the car. He then noticed its windshield was broken.
One of the suspects was dressed in all black and the other was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans.
Lawn equipment stolen
A resident of the 18500 block of Harman reported a weed whacker, lawn edger and generator were stolen from his shed sometime before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Southgate
Car vandalized for converter
A woman parked in the carport of an apartment complex in the 16000 block of Barberry reported the vandalizing and theft from her car of a catalytic converter valued at $300.
The woman said she parked and secured her car about midnight May 18, and when she next started the vehicle at 4:30 p.m. noticed the noise difference.
Responding police officers took note of the exhaust pipe that had been cut, and collected evidence at the scene.
Taylor
Man swipes RC units
A clerk at 7-Eleven, 22027 Van Born, told police that a customer was looking at two remote control devices, a boat and plane each valued at $70, and when the clerk turned to help another customer the man took off with the toys.
Police were called to the convenience store shortly after 3 a.m. May 19, where the store clerk described a white man approximately 50 years old wearing a red hat and shirt and with a beard and mustache. Police collected evidence and will review security camera images.
Laptop, TV taken from home
A woman living in the 15000 block of Park Village told police that while she was out of state one or more burglars broke in and stole a $400 42-inch TV and a $450 laptop computer.
The woman said she left home the evening of May 17, and when she returned shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday she discovered her bedroom ransacked and TV and computer missing. She told police that she accidentally left a front window unlocked, which appeared to have been pushed open for access.
Police collected evidence and submitted serial numbers of the missing items to the Law Enforcement Information Network.
Riverview
AC unit stolen
Someone stole an air conditioning unit from Kings Forest Apartments, 19460 Fort St., May 4.
The unit was last seen about 5 p.m. the day prior. There are no suspects.
Wyandotte
Gang graffiti found
A resident of the 200 block of Second Street found gang graffiti sprayed on the back of his garage about noon Monday.
He believes it had happened sometime in the 24 hours prior.
Theft attempted during job application
A man who went into a business near First and Poplar to apply for a job May 18 got more than he bargained for.
About 2 p.m. that day, the man returned to the parking lot where he heard the sound of power tools and saw a man lying on the ground near his vehicle.
Another man at the wheel of a dark blue Chevrolet Malibu near the man’s car yelled, “Let’s go,” to the accomplice, and they fled in the Malibu.
The exhaust pipe was cut but the catalytic converter was intact.
Both men in the Malibu were described as black.
Woman propositions cop
A drunken woman allegedly offered sexual favors to an officer in exchange for her release when arrested on disorderly person charges about 6 p.m. May 19.
Officers responded to Third and Eureka about that time on a call of a 19-year-old resident stumbling into traffic and disrupting business at a nearby tobacco shop.
The woman emitted an odor of intoxicants and officers found a half-full bottle of rum in her purse.
She leaned on the officer’s motorcycle for support several times and was asked not to as she may burn herself on its hot engine components. She attempted to grab the motorcycle again and begged officers not to arrest her because she was on probation for an alcohol offense. She then became verbally abusive toward a second officer and was handcuffed and put in a patrol car.
She then allegedly began offering the officer sexual favors if he let her go, a request she repeated throughout the trip to the police department. Once booked, she allegedly attempted to flee her cell several times and banged her head against her cell wall.
(Compiled by Sherri Kolade, James Mitchell and Andrea Poteet.)