Crime & Safety

Farmington Hills Police Calls: Fighting at Dunckel, Catalytic Converter Thefts

Two students have been referred to juvenile court after an altercation at school.

Two students have been referred to juvenile court after a Dec. 8 fight witnessed by a teacher at the school.

According to a report filed with the , one of the boys admitted hitting the other in the head with a stapler after a verbal exchange. The boy who wielded the stapler told an officer that the other boy had been calling him names and spreading rumors about him for two years. The boys were charged with fighting in public.

Employer describes embezzlement, threats

The owner of the at 31529 Northwestern told police he fired an employee because he believed the employee had taken money from the business. According to the report, the station owner told police he had confronted the employee, a 63-year-old West Bloomfield Township man, with videotape evidence. The owner told police he heard that the employee was making threats against him, related to another business deal, and he asked that a detective contact the accused man and tell him to stay away from the station. The owner said he was also planning to file a personal protection order, according to the report.

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Student creates disturbance

Police were called to at 10:30 a.m. Friday because school officials said a student serving in-school suspension had become disorderly. According to the report, the student had a package labeled "K2 Melon 3 grams" in his pocket, and he informed the officers that he had marijuana in his van. He was arrested for possession of synthetic marijuana. A juvenile petition was filed for marijuana possession and creating a disturbance at school, and the student was released to his mother, according to the report.

Catalytic converter thefts

Two catalytic converters were reported stolen in Farmington Hills this month. According to one report, a 53-year-old Troy woman who was leaving work at Rehmann Group on 12 Mile started her car and found that the exhaust was abnormally loud. She called her husband, who discovered that the catalytic converter had been stolen.

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In a separate report, a 40-year-old Stockbridge man who had parked his van at JST Corp. on Interchange Drive while carpooling for an out-of-town business trip returned to find the catalytic converter on his vehicle had been stolen.

Ordinance violation

A resident in the area of Millbrook called police at 11:20 p.m. Jan. 12 because a neighbor was loading a truck after hours. According to the report, an officer arrived and heard the banging noise of wood being loaded into a landscaping truck. The officer informed the resident, a 30-year-old man, that he could not load his truck within 500 feet of a residence between 8 p.m.-7 a.m. The man reportedly told the officer that he would continue to load wood until he was finished, even if a ticket was issued. The officer told the man that what he was doing was against the law, and he was to move the truck and stop loading. The resident finally complied and was ticketed, according to the report.

Marijuana possession

While on routine patrol, an officer spotted a property damage car accident at 9 p.m. Jan. 11 on Grand River west of Middlebelt. According to the report, the driver declined medical treatment, and the officer detected the odor of marijuana. The driver said he was smoking a marijuana cigarette and had discarded it before the officer arrived. The 30-year-old Livonia man was arrested for marijuana possession after police found two baggies of marijuana under the passenger seat in his car, according to the report. He was released on $200 bond.

In a second incident, an officer on routine patrol stopped a vehicle at 6:35 p.m. Monday at M-5 and 13 Mile Road when the driver failed to signal a lane change. The officer reportedly detected the odor of marijuana while speaking with the driver, a 26-year-old Walled Lake man, and his passenger, a 23-year-old Novi man. Both men admitted previous arrests for marijuana possession and for other crimes, according to the report. The passenger gave the officer a false name; he was later identified and found to have an outstanding warrant for marijuana possession.

The passenger was arrested, and a search of the vehicle reportedly turned up 8 grams of marijuana in the trunk. The driver was arrested for possession of marijuana and admitted he had another bag hidden in his jacket sleeve. Both men were taken into custody; the driver was charged with possession of marijuana and failure to signal; the passenger was ticketed for providing a false name.

Cigarette flicker

Around 7 p.m. Monday, an officer on patrol in the area of M-5 and Orchard Lake Road saw someone flick a lit cigarette from a car. The cigarette landed on the roadway in front of the squad car. According to the report, the officer stopped the driver, a 33-year-old Howell woman, who admitted she was driving on a suspended license. Her husband, a 54-year-old Howell man, said he tossed the cigarette because the ash tray was broken. The woman reportedly admitted she had pills in her shoe, and a check showed that she was on probation for possession of prescription narcotics and was suspended from driving with two prior arrests with license plate confiscation. She was booked and released, pending further investigation.

Retail fraud

A 32-year-old Grimes, IA, man was arrested around 6:15 p.m. Jan. 12 at , after officers responded to a call of a crime in progress. According to the report, the dispatcher gave officers a description of the suspect and told them when he left the store. Officers stopped the man as he was getting into his truck, and he reportedly admitted taking clothing items, which were valued at $199.50. The store's loss prevention officer told police she had seen the man go into a dressing room carrying several items and that he walked out without them. The report indicated that the man told police his clothes had been stolen, and he had no money to buy more. He was charged with retail fraud and released.

House fire

The renter of a house on Peppermill returned home Saturday to find the house engulfed in flames. According to the report, a neighbor who had been walking his dog called 911 around 10:50 p.m. to report the fire. The renter, a 25-year-old man, reportedly told police he had had a fire in the fireplace earlier in the evening and had discarded the wood and ashes in a plastic bag, doused them with water and placed the bag in a plastic trash can in the attached garage before he left the house around 10:30 p.m. He told police he "freaked out" when he got home because he had left his dog in the house and did not know whether the animal was still inside. The dog was later found wandering on the street. The man's 28-year-old roommate told police that the 25-year-old had been known to smoke cigarettes in the garage. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Salvation Army theft

Officers responding to an alarm call at 11:45 p.m. Monday at the on Shiawassee spotted shadowy figures running inside the building. According to the report, officers found two men walking outside, and both were breathing heavily. They were ordered to the ground and handcuffed.

One of the men reportedly had blood covering the side of his face, and the other, a 20-year-old Farmington Hills man, told officers the younger man had been assaulted by three men and a woman.

Officers reportedly observed fresh footprints in the snow that were moving away from the east door of the building and toward the sidewalk where the suspects were arrested.

A K-9 unit was called in to search the area, and the younger man was transported to by Community Emergency Medical Services. The 20-year-old man told police he was on parole, and a background check showed that he was a parole absconder and had several outstanding warrants.

A representative from the Salvation Army said it was unclear whether anything had been taken.


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