Police Blotter: Unlicensed Teen Caught Joyriding; Gas Station Smash-and-Grab

Unlicensed teens stopped by police on early-morning drive

A Thanksgiving weekend joyride has landed two Bloomfield Township teens in trouble with the law, police said.

Two 15-year-old girls were detained by the Bloomfield Township Police Department after officers stopped a vehicle that was driving erratically on Hickory Grove Road at about 3:40 a.m. on Nov. 26, police reports said.

Officers stopped the vehicle near the Franklin Road intersection and discovered the driver and passenger were too young to have driver’s licenses and were in the vehicle without permission. They determined the driver snuck out of the house with her friend and took her parent's vehicle without their knowledge. Neither girl was arrested, but both girls were turned over to their parents, who were called to the scene that morning, Sgt. Kurtis Dudek said. 

The matter was referred to the department’s school-liaison officer, who will meet with the parents of driver next week, Dudek added. No decision of possible charges in juvenile court or any other potential punishment has been made.

Gas station smash-and-grab burglary

Bloomfield Township police said a local gas station was burglarized while it was closed early Monday morning.

Officers responded to the Shell station at 3690 W. Maple Rd. in the early morning hours of Nov. 28 after employees discovered signs of a break-in, according to reports.

The burglar shattered a window on the service garage and entered the business through that door. Several cartons of cigarettes, tools, miscellaneous merchandise and cash were taken. No suspect information was available.

Mutiple mailboxes damaged

Bloomfield Township police are investigating multiple reports of damaged mailboxes in the same neighborhood.

Residents of both East Greenwich and West Greenwich drives on the township’s south side were damaged sometime overnight on Nov. 22, reports said. The damage was reported to police the following morning. It is unclear what caused the damage and no estimates for repairs were available.

Five mailboxes were damaged and no suspect or suspicious vehicle information is available, Sgt. Kurtis Dudek said.

Larcenies from unlocked vehicles

Police are urging residents to again lock their vehicle doors and avoid becoming an easy target for opportunistic thieves after two different larceny reports were filed last week.

• A resident in the 400 block of South Cranbrook Cross said a laptop computer and credit cards were taken from a vehicle parked in the driveway of their home sometime overnight on Nov. 26.
• Police also took a report from a vehicle owner in the 5800 block of East Miller Way who said a laptop computer and credit cards were taken from a vehcle parked in their driveway that same night.

Both vehicles were left unlocked, similar to several other larceny cases reported earlier this year, according to reports.

“We would like to remind EVERYONE to please keep their cars parked in a CLOSED and LOCKED garage. Just this simple act can prevent a number of crimes!” read a recent post on the department’s Facebook page.

Anyone with information in any of these incidents is asked to call the investigations division at 248-433-7752.

For questions about this blotter, email Art.Aisner@Patch.com.