Farmington Hills

Rash of car thefts hits city

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

FARMINGTON HILLS — Police responded to at least seven stolen car reports between Jan. 18 and 23.

“All our stolen car cases were turned over to the Oakland County (Sheriff’s) Auto Theft Unit,” said Farmington Hills Police Cmdr. Dave Stasch. Farmington Hills has an officer assigned to the multijurisdictional unit run by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Two of the seven reports were from the same period, overnight Jan. 18-19, at the Timberidge Apartments, on Timberidge Circle, where Folsom turns into Tuck Road. A 31-year-old woman told police that she had parked her dark purple 2002 Chrysler Concorde on the north side of her apartment building at 7 p.m., but at 6:30 a.m., the car was gone. In this case, as with most of the others, there was no broken glass or other signs of forced entry, meaning the vehicle was unlocked or the thieves used a device to defeat the lock.

Later that morning at another building in the complex, a man went to warm up his mother-in-law’s gold 2004 Dodge Intrepid, which his wife had parked in front of their apartment building the previous evening, and found that it was gone.

More bad mornings
Residents on Paddock Drive, Maywood and St. Frances had similarly unpleasant mornings Jan. 20-23 in which they woke up to find their vehicles were gone.

A 52-year-old resident of Paddock Drive, near 10 Mile and Inkster roads, told police that he had returned from work and parked his orange 2011 Dodge Challenger in the driveway, and between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Jan. 20, someone took the car.

The resident noted that he had seen an occupied white van at the entrance to his subdivision earlier.

The next day, a Ferndale man, 29, parked his light-brown 2008 Dodge Magnum on Maywood, in the Fairmont Park Apartments lot, near Drake and Nine Mile, at 2 a.m. He said he locked the vehicle, and when he returned at 2:30 p.m., the vehicle was missing. Police noted that there was broken glass next to where the driver’s side window had been, the report said. There were footprints in the snow around the parking space, but the temperature had risen and melted the prints beyond usefulness.

A 63-year-old resident of St. Francis, near Eight Mile and Grand River, said she’d
parked her silver 2004 Chevy Impala in a handicapped space after finishing work at Botsford Hospital at about 10:30 a.m. Jan. 22. When she went to get the vehicle at 6 a.m. Jan. 23, it was gone.

The woman’s Impala had been stolen in December, as well, but had been recovered in Southfield, the report said.

Pair boldly steals Range Rover
A man and a woman took a 2010 Range Rover HSE from Land Rover Farmington Hills, on Grand River, just west of the 10 Mile split, Jan. 23.

The vehicle had been parked in a lift bay for a scheduled safety inspection, but at 2:30 p.m., an employee realized that the Range Rover was missing. A salesman said a man and a woman had entered the showroom, and the woman said the couple was waiting for a vehicle being serviced. The salesman went back to his desk, and minutes later, he heard an alarm signifying that someone had opened the lockbox containing new vehicle keys. The salesman saw the two tampering with the box, the police report said.

Hearing the alarm themselves, the two suspects walked away from the lockbox into the showroom, and then out into the back service area. The salesman saw them drive away in a red Ford Taurus just before 2 p.m. The salesman took down the car’s license plate, which was registered to a 44-year-old Detroit woman. Later, the sales people realized the two incidents may have been connected.

When they reviewed security video with police, it showed the Taurus stop next to the east service bay door and the man exit the Taurus. A minute later, the Range Rover pulled out of the garage, and the Taurus followed toward Grand River with only the woman inside, according to the report.

“They’re following up on that,” said Stasch.

Stolen vehicle found off the road
At about 5:40 a.m. Jan. 20, an officer responded to the area of Nine Mile and Inkster roads to find a red Pontiac Grand Am with its rear partly in the westbound traffic lane and its front end in the woods along the road.

The officer noted that the steering column was cracked and the plastic covering was broken away. The vehicle, which had frost on its windows, was registered to a home on Ontaga, less than a quarter mile away.

The Pontiac’s owner, 51, told police that his vehicle had been stolen within the last hour, and he had just tried to call police when the officer pulled up, so he hung up. Police impounded the vehicle because the man was unable to have the vehicle removed at his own cost, the report said.

Tips to prevent auto thefts
Help Eliminate Auto Theft is a statewide program combating auto theft. People can leave tips at (800) 242-HEAT. Rewards of up to $1,000 are offered for tips that lead to an arrest and warrant for a suspected car thief, up to $10,000 for tips that lead to arrests and the binding over for trial of a car theft ring or chop shop, and $2,000 for tips leading to arrests and warrants for suspected carjackers.

The HEAT website, miheat. org, explains safety tips, lists the most frequently stolen vehicles, and more.

Tips include etching the vehicle identification number into all of a vehicle’s windows, using a steering-wheel locking device, leaving windows closed — not even cracked — and having a kill switch installed in a concealed place.

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