Crime Report: Dwarfs Stolen, Fireworks Complaints

responded to about 30 fireworks complaints over the 4th of July holiday weekend, with 26 of them coming between 5:30 p.m. July 4 and 1:30 a.m. on July 5.

Stolen dwarfs

A resident in the 30000 block of Lamar told police that three dwarfs from his Snow White and Seven Dwarfs lawn ornament display were stolen sometime between June 27 at 9 p.m. and June 28 at 8 a.m. According to the report, the owner said items from the display have been stolen in the past, and often reappear within a year.

School break-in

Police responding to a break-in alarm at around 2:30 p.m. Monday found six boys inside the school playing basketball in the school gym. According to the report, the boys, who were from Southfield and Belleville, ranged from ages 11 to 15. They told police they had found a door open and thought they could use the gym. However, a Farmington Public Schools employee who responded to the alarm found the strike plate on the door latch appeared to have been pried loose. All six boys were taken into custody and their parents were notified.

Concealed weapon

A man who told police he is homeless was arrested Monday for carrying a concealed weapon. According to the report, police stopped the man's vehicle at Grand River and Middlebelt around 12:30 p.m. because the license plate tags were expired. A background check showed the man had an expired concealed pistol license; asked if he had a gun in the car, the man told the officer that he did. The gun, a loaded .45 Glock, was recovered from underneath the driver's seat and secured.

Drunk driving

A 19-year-old Saline man was arrested early Monday morning and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. According to the report, an officer stopped the man's vehicle after watching him drive erratically on I-275 near Eight Mile Rd., and detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from inside the car. A portable breath test showed the driver's blood alcohol level was .13. After being taken into custody and booked, the driver was released at the police station after a friend came to bail him out.

Prescription drug possession

A 27-year-old Westland woman was arrested Sunday at 6:30 p.m. after a vehicle in which she was a passenger was stopped at M-5 and Farmington Rd. The driver, a 30-year-old Redford Township man, was stopped after driving erratically and cutting off a sport utility vehicle while merging onto M-5. A background check showed he had a suspended license, and a search of the vehicle turned up several different kinds of pills, including Xanax, in the woman's purse, for which she did not have a prescription. After the woman was taken into custody, the driver was ticketed for driving with a suspended license; he and two passengers were released at the scene.

Armed robbery

A man wearing a home-made mask and dressed in black took an estimated $600 in cash from the BP station on Haggerty around 1:20 a.m. Sunday. According to the report, the man entered the store and jumped over the counter and ordered the clerk, a 33-year-old Madison Heights man to put the money in a plastic bag taken from the store. The man, who was armed, grabbed a bottle of tequila, ordered the clerk to the floor, then ran off. A K-9 unit tracked him to just north of Church of the Nazarene, and police found a vehicle parked, with the ignition key inside, on I-275 in that area. Three people inside the store told police they didn't see anything during the incident.

Breaking and entering

A resident in the 22000 block of Haynes told police that sometime between Saturday at 6 p.m. and Monday at 10 a.m., someone broke into his home and took a 42" flat screen television set, $500 in coins and $400 worth of jewelry. According to the report, police found the patio entry doors had been pried open.

Sometime between Friday at 7 p.m. and Monday at 1:30 p.m., someone broke into a home in the 26000 block of Springfield Dr. and took jewelry, including a custom-made necklace, worth about $2,000. According to the report, a window had been pushed in to gain access to the home.

A resident on River Glen returned home on Monday at 6 p.m. to find that someone had broken into his home and taken jewelry and cash. The home was also damaged extensively, with 43 holes punched in the walls and bleach spilled throughout the home. A kitchen table and refrigerator had been flipped over, lamps were knocked over and cuts were made to the couch. Damage was estimated at $2,000.

Police responded to an alarm at the Mobil station on Orchard Lake Road around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and found the front glass door had been shattered. According to the report, the owner, a 47-year-old West Bloomfield Township man, had gotten a call from the alarm company and asked that police respond to the scene. A number of cigarette cartons and $200-$300 in cash were taken. The owner showed police interior security video, in which a red, extended-cab pick up truck pulled up to the entrance. A man got out of the vehicle and used a tool to shatter the door. A note on the report indicated that Royal Oak Police responded to similar burglaries at around 5:45 a.m., at a pizzeria and a Sunoco station.

On Friday afternoon, police responded to a home on Wellington Drive after a 65-year-old man reported that someone forced the front door open and stole about $3,000 worth of jewelry and $120 in cash. The man said he had left the home locked at 7:30 a.m. that morning.

Heroin arrest

Police called to check on a man in a vehicle at Grand River and Orchard Lake Road at 12:50 a.m. Saturday morning found a 29-year-old Novi man passed out behind the wheel, with a syringe in his hand. According to the report, officers also saw a glass crack pipe in plain view on the driver's side floor board, a metal tin with drug paraphernalia inside and a small plastic syringe cap that appeared to contain "cooked" heroin. A search of the vehicle turned up a baggie of heroin. The man's father told police his son had just been released from the hospital after a heroin overdose, and said he had been in the area looking for his son, concerned he might be on a drug binge. The 29-year-old was arrested for heroin possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and was ticketed for having an expired license plate.

Hospital commitment

After responding a number of times to assist an 88-year-old Farmington Hills man who frequently wandered away from his home on Rensselear, police decided to commit him for treatment at Botsford Hospital. According to the report, police found the man walking on Botsford Drive on Wednesday at 9:25 p.m. and on Tuesday, he was picked up on Byron around 4:45 p.m. Officers reported that family members seemed unconcerned about the man, although he appeared disheveled and was unable to care for his own basic needs.

If you have any questions about this blotter, contact editor Joni Hubred-Golden, joni.hubred-golden@patch.com