St. Clair Shores

Police teamwork leads to arrests in hair salon theft

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

Two men have been arrested in the alleged armed robbery of a hair salon thought to be connected to two other incidents.

Working with the help of the Michigan State Police, Oak Park Department of Public Safety and the Warren Police Department, St. Clair Shores Police were able to find the two suspects allegedly involved in thefts at the Exodus Hair and Nail Salon on Harper Avenue.

Police had been called to the salon Aug. 16 after two black men waived a revolver in the air, collected all the cash from employees and customers, then locked them all in a back room.

St. Clair Shores Police Detective David Scheuer said a single black man robbed a hair salon in Warren Aug. 14 and the next day, the same two men as in St. Clair Shores were caught on video during another incident in Oak Park.

“The guy that was at all three of them was always well-dressed, in polo shirts,” Scheuer said.

He said once the pair established that no one was in a back room, they announced the robbery and begin taking cash, then put the victims in a room and told them to count to 100 before coming out.

Using surveillance video from the other communities was key to tracking down the suspects and making an arrest, said St. Clair Shores Police Detective Lt. David Centala.

Curtis Felton, 29, of Belleville, was arrested in Ypsilanti the week of Aug. 27 and arraigned on charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and felony firearm in front of Magistrate Mark Metry in the 40th District Court. His bond was set at $250,000 cash or surety and he’s at the Macomb County Jail pending a preliminary examination Sept. 7.

Thirty-four-year-old Larry Roosevelt of Detroit was arrested in that city Sept. 4 and arraigned the next day in front of Judge Mark Fratarcangeli on the same charges. But because he was on parole for armed robbery at the time of the alleged crimes, his bond was set at $1 million cash or surety. Roosevelt will be back in court Sept. 18.

“(The) city of Warren and Oak Park both have charges, also,” Centala said. “It was outstanding police work by all departments involved.”

City officials said they were pleased to hear of the successful arrests.

“I want the message to be this: We will, as a police department, eventually catch people who come into our city and decide to do us harm,” City Manager Ben Hughes said Sept. 4. “Tonight’s another success story.”
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You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.