The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Police Beat
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2008
Ypsilanti police were called to the area of Hawkins and Harriet streets 2:16 a.m. Jan. 23 on a report of armed robbery.
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The two victims said they were employees of Jimmy John's sandwich shop and had been sent to an address in the 600 block of Hawkins.
Upon arrival, they realized the address did not exist. They had then called the number from which the delivery had been ordered and got a new address from a woman who answered the phone. They parked their vehicle and looked for the address.
At that point, two black men came toward them to accept delivery, but said they did not have any money to pay for the order. According to the delivery driver, one man then pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the victim, while the other man went through his pockets, taking approximately $150 in cash.
The second victim, who identified himself as the assistant manager of the Jimmy John's outlet, appeared to be intoxicated and confused. He was unable to add to what the driver told officers.
The driver described one of the robbers as a man, five-foot eight-inches in height, approximately 17, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with fir around the hood and blue jeans.
He described the second robber as a man, five-foot five-inches in height with a thin build, wearing black hooded sweatshirt.
The investigation continues with efforts to follow up the phone from which the food order was placed.
Possession of crack
Ypsilanti police officers were conducting surveillance on a known narcotics house in the area of S. Prospect and Towner streets last Thursday when they saw a suspect leave. They arrested one suspect who left that house with a quantity of crack cocaine.
Tracks lead to thieves
Two Ypsilanti Township men were arrested last Thursday after Ypsilanti police followed their tracks to where they were staying.
Officers were called to the 600 block of Charles Street at about 2 a.m. The 37-year-old woman resident said she had just returned home and had found a second-floor door leading onto a balcony had the glass broken out and been forced open.
On the floor were valuables and video games bagged and ready to be carted away. The victim said a video gaming system and a pink plastic piggy bank full of change were missing.
Officers Brooke Harrison, Joshua Lawther, Michael Rini and Andrew Vainner ascertained two thieves had climbed onto the balcony and broken in the second-story door. The tracks of the thieves could be seen in the snow and the officers tracked them toward E. Cross and down Garland to the 800 block of George Street, where they found the now-empty piggy bank.
The officers contacted the residents of the house, who "were eager to help," according to the police report. The two men, both age 23, were staying in the George Street home. They admitted wearing the shoes the officers had tracked to that address and were playing on the stolen video gaming system.
One of the suspects confessed to having participated in the break-in. The other suspect denied breaking the glass from the door, saying the glass had already been broken when they arrived.
The second suspect said a third person was at the victim's house and had broken the glass from the door so the suspect could open it. He also said he had only stolen the piggy bank.
One suspect was found to be in possession of marijuana. The other had outstanding warrants against him. Both were arrested.
Car crashes into building
A Chevrolet sedan traveling eastbound on Washtenaw Avenue slammed into a corner apartment of the Brickhaven Apartments at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Ballard Street last Saturday evening at about 5:15 p.m. and stopped completely inside the living room of the unit.
Ypsilanti police said the woman driver, who refused medical treatment, told them she had been driving in the right lane when a white van had inched over into her lane. She said she was unsure if the van had struck her vehicle or if she had lost control in slush along the edge of the street, but the next thing she knew she was headed toward the building.
A witness, who had been also traveling on Washtenaw Avenue behind the car that struck the building, told officers that car and her own were the only two vehicles on the road at that time and that the suspect vehicle had been traveling much faster than the witness' car, which she said was going about 35 miles per hour.
The witness told police she saw the suspect vehicle fishtail and slide before mounting the curb and slamming into the building.
A city building inspector was called to investigate the structural integrity of the building, but no tenants were displaced.
Gun implied
Ypsilanti police officers Richard Houk and Robert Eggenberger responded to a report of an armed robbery in the 900 block of Washtenaw Avenue, near Mike's Book Store 4 a.m. on Saturday.
The woman victim who had called 911 had described the suspect in the robbery in her phone call.
Upon arriving in the area, the officers observed a man fitting the description of the suspect. Upon the officers approaching him, the suspect ran. He was caught after a short foot chase. At that time, the suspect stated that the officers would "find no money on me, no gun on me."
The victim, upon being contacted, said she and her boyfriend had been followed as they walked back to her home by a man who attempted to engage them in conversation. Finally, the man indicated he had a gun and told the couple, "I'll cap you...if you don't give me money. I'm desperate."
The woman victim said she never saw a gun, but the robber held some object in his pocket that she believed was a gun.
The couple was asked to identify the suspect from a lineup and the woman was "100 percent sure" in identifying the suspect Houk and Eggenberger had caught.
He was arrested and police are seeking charges of armed robbery.
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