Similar cases seen in Orchard Lake, West Bloomfield

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

ORCHARD LAKE — Local police hope to find one or several suspicious solicitors apparently making the rounds in the city and West Bloomfield Township.

Orchard Lake police had reports Sept. 16-17 from multiple residents who said solicitors came around for some supposed cause. According to Orchard Lake Police Sgt. David Sims, at one point the solicitor claimed to raise money for Michigan State University baseball, while at another time the cause reportedly was the “West Bloomfield Bandits.”

Apparently a common solicitation in these cases includes a young man claiming to be the son of a doctor who lives in the area.

“They’re using the name ‘Dr. Andrews,’” said Sims. They also gave the name of a street, Elmgate, but Sims said a check of a directory did not show such a doctor on Elmgate.

“We’re very suspicious of this,” said Sims.

“We’ve had two reports so far,” said West Bloomfield Police Lt. Tim Diamond, “and we think it’s the same guy, our two.”

The man in West Bloomfield apparently used slightly different names than “Dr. Andrews.”

“He changes his story just a little bit each time,” said Diamond. The solicitor seems to find out the name of a neighbor and use that as part of the come-on, Diamond explained.

Last year, Orchard Lake police caught a suspect after a man selling magazines gained access to a woman’s home and stole money from her purse. In that incident, the man used a ruse of needing to use the bathroom to gain access.

Regarding the latest solicitor trouble, Sims said, “We have not had any reported thefts in our city.”

However, a West Bloomfield resident on Pine Lake Road apparently was not so lucky. A young man came to the door at the house about 8:15 Sept. 10 and was allowed into a foyer. Afterward, a woman at the home discovered that a yellow-gold ring with diamonds had disappeared from a desk in the foyer. The ring was valued at $8,000.

Diamond said the other West Bloomfield report came from Cedarbank, which runs off of Commerce Road, east of Keith Road. The solicitor managed to get $55.

The solicitors — Orchard Lake police did not have a solid number for sure, but they suspect multiple young people in at least six encounters in the city, including a female in one instance — have not registered with the city or township, as required. Sims described them as preppy and clean-cut.

In one of the Orchard Lake incidents, on Sept. 17, a young man went to a home on Elmgate and received a small donation, Sims said. However, the woman who gave the donation began feeling suspicious about it, got in her car and caught up with the young man.

When she started questioning the young man, he got angry and said he didn’t need the money. He reportedly threw it into her car and left.

“My personal opinion is, obviously, he was starting to get worried about being challenged,” said Sims.

Sims said another report in the city came from Twin Fawn, and the solicitors seemed to target the area off of Old Orchard Trail.

Anyone with information, including descriptions of the solicitors, should call police.

“We don’t want residents with a good heart to get sucked into this,” said Sims.

Police caution residents not to let people into their homes and that anyone who feels uncomfortable about a solicitor should call police so that investigators can identify the person.

You can reach Staff Writer David Wallace at dwallace@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1053.