Robbery suspect arrested, crime alert canceled
A 37-year-old Livingston County resident, currently in jail on parole violations, is a prime suspect in a March robbery on Church Street. Department of Public Safety (DPS) has canceled Crime Alert 2006-003 for the March 26 unarmed robbery in the 700 block of Church Street. A student reported she had been approached by an unknown man who fled in a white van with her shoulder bag. A van matching the victim’s description was reported stolen from Livingston County and was found a few days later in Tennessee. DPS is seeking charges of unarmed robbery and possession of stolen automobile against the suspect.
Unlocked doors, unattended belongings lead to burglaries
Unlocked or open doors led to several reports in April of burglaries in University Housing. A Northwood Community Apartments resident reported to DPS that when he returned home at 3 a.m. April 1, the sliding glass door was partially open and his laptop was missing. A Markley Hall resident reported April 3 that his wallet and iPod were missing after he left his room door open for about an hour the previous evening while visiting one of his neighbors.
In East Quadrangle a resident reported that unauthorized gas charges had been made on his bank debit card on April 10 after his wallet and cash were stolen from his room the night before. His roommate told police that he had left the room door ajar for two hours when he went to study, as he didn’t want to wake his sleeping roommate.
On April 23 a Markley Hall resident reported a camera and cash from his wallet had been taken from his room when he left the door open during an evacuation for a fire alarm. Another Markley resident reported April 26 that he had returned to his room and found the interior door chain fastened across the door. He told police that he climbed through a stairwell window onto an outside ledge to gain access to his room window. After climbing back inside his room and unlatching the door chain, he discovered that both his and his roommate’s laptop computers were missing.
A Baits Housing resident reported April 27 that his mini-disk player had been taken while he was moving belongings out of his room to a waiting vehicle.
DPS has no suspects in any of the burglaries.
Victims ID suspect, call police
A 17-year-old Ann Arbor resident was apprehended by DPS April 23 after he was identified by witnesses as a possible suspect in a residence hall burglary. Witnesses reportedly observed the suspect leaving a Couzens Hall room with a resident’s laptop computer. The witnesses helped the victim identify the suspect from a Facebook posting and police recovered the missing laptop. DPS will be seeking authorization from the county prosecutor’s office on burglary charges.
Restroom fire causes minor damage
A fire in a trash can in a first floor men’s restroom in Angell Hall April 17 resulted only in damage to the can and its contents. The Ann Arbor Fire Department ruled the fire was arson after it could not find any evidence of accidental combustion. No one was injured during the incident.
Car stolen from Georgia visitor
A visitor from Georgia reported to DPS April 28 that his black 1994 Acura Integra had been stolen sometime after he parked it the day before in NW21 off Cram Place. So far DPS has no suspects in the investigation.
Click it or risk getting a ticket
DPS officers will join with law enforcement officials across the country during late May for an aggressive national “Click It or Ticket” mobilization to crack down on safety belt law violators. Nearly one in five Americans still fails to regularly wear their safety belts while driving or riding in a motor vehicle, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Failure to regularly wear a safety belt can be deadly. According to the NHTSA, more than 31,000 people died in traffic crashes during 2004 and 55 percent of those killed were not wearing their safety belts at the time of the crashes.
DPS and local police will increase their safety belt enforcement throughout the national campaign, May 22-June 4. DPS also will conduct targeted enforcement today (May 22) on State Street, May 25 on East Medical Center Drive and Fuller Road, and June 2 on EMCD and Observatory.
Michigan law requires the driver and front-seat passengers in moving vehicles (except bus passengers and a few other exemptions) to wear safety belts along with all passengers who are younger than 16. Violation of the law results in a $65 citation plus court costs.
