Farmington Crime Report: Two Cited for Animal Abuse During Heat Wave

Two men face citations for animal cruelty in separate incidents reported to over the last two weeks. 

According to one report, a 56-year-old Livonia man told police he left his Pomeranian inside his locked vehicle for 30 minutes while he ate lunch at a restaurant on Farmington Road July 4. The man told police he rolled up the windows, so the air conditioned air would remain inside the car. The officer informed the man that the temperature was 97, with a heat index of 103, which was unsafe for animals and children to be left inside a closed vehicle. The report indicated that the dog did not appear to have suffered ill effects. 

In another report filed on June 30, witnesses asked to press animal cruelty charges after watching a yellow Labrador pulling a man who was wearing in-line skates, on an afternoon when the temperature reached 95 degrees. After stopping the man at Shiawassee and Lakeway, the officer noted the dog was in "obvious distress", frothing at the mouth and panting excessively. Witnesses told police the dog collapsed and the owner began yelling and pulling on its leash to get it moving again. The report noted that the owner, a 51-year-old Farmington Hills man, gave the dog water and told police he stopped occasionally so the dog could rest in the shade. As the officer spoke with the man, the dog's condition improved; the man contacted his father to give him a ride home. 

Alcohol violations

A 24-year-old Detroit man faces a charge of having an open alcohol container in his vehicle, following a traffic stop at Farmington and Freedom early Monday morning. According to the report, police found vodka in a blue cup inside the vehicle, which was stopped for having a cracked tail light. 

Teenaged brothers from Livonia both face charges after an officer on patrol clocked their vehicle at 50 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone at around 2:49 a.m. on Sunday. According to the report, the vehicle jumped the curb when it stopped near Farmington and Kirby, and the officer noticed a strong odor of intoxicants as he spoke with the driver, 16. The report indicated that a preliminary breath test showed the driver's 19-year-old brother had a blood alcohol level of .08. The legal drinking age in Michigan is 21. The driver was ticketed for violating his graduated license conditions and speeding; his brother, for underage consumption of alcohol. 

A 17-year-old from Novi faces a charge of underage consumption of alcohol, after a traffic stop at Grand River and Lakeway early on Friday. According to the report, the officer spotted the vehicle speeding, with only its parking lamps on. While speaking with the driver, a 16-year-old girl from Northville, the officer noticed a strong odor of intoxicants. A preliminary breath test showed the 17-year-old passenger's blood alcohol level was .07. The legal drinking age in Michigan is 21. A search of the vehicle uncovered two open bottles of liquor. The driver was ticketed for violating the conditions of her graduated license, driving with headlights off and disobeying a traffic control device. 

Two 20-year-old men from Novi and South Lyon face charges of underage drinking, after an officer on patrol spotted their vehicle parked at a restaurant on Grand River around 1:50 a.m. on July 4. According to the report, the men told the officer they were using a GPS device to locate a 24-hour restaurant in the area. The officer noticed a strong odor of intoxicants and empty beer bottles inside the vehicle. A preliminary breath test showed the driver's blood alcohol was .15; the passenger refused the test. Michigan's legal drinking age is 21. 

Thefts

Witnesses told police they watched a man driving a red Ford Ranger pick-up truck take a chainsaw from the back of a Farmington Department of Public Works vehicle on July 5, while crews were working to clear storm-downed tree limbs in the area of Macomb and Cass. According to the report, the man moved the saw from the bed of the DPW truck into his own, then drove off. 

An officer on patrol found a backpack in the middle of Lilac around 4:15 a.m. July 1 and returned it to the owner, who said a Macintosh laptop computer was missing from inside. According the report, the woman found nothing else had been taken from her vehicle, which was parked under a condo complex carport. The officer checked other vehicles in the complex and found one had been left open, with many items inside, including a six-pack of beer.