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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — A recent retail fraud arrest is highlighting a troubling trend: criminals from outside the township targeting the township’s main commercial retail center and fleeing on Telegraph.
A recently paroled man from Detroit was arrested after he allegedly stole over $2K in merchandise from a local sporting goods store.
The suspect, 36, was arraigned in 48th District Court and was charged with multiple felonies — including first-degree retail fraud, theft detection removal, fourth-degree fleeing and eluding, and a second offense for driving on a suspended license. He was given a $75,000 cash bond.
Bloomfield Township police were called to Dick’s Sporting Goods, 2105 S. Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sept. 9 on a report of a suspect fleeing the scene with stolen merchandise inside his car.
“Store employees recognized this individual to be stealing from their store, so they acted quickly in calling us right away, which got our township units up into the area,” said Officer Nick Soley, of the Bloomfield Township Police Department.
When police arrived, the suspect was seen exiting the shopping plaza in his car. Officers attempted a traffic stop on Telegraph Road, but he refused to stop the car.
“In no way was this a police chase — oftentimes, when we talk about fleeing and eluding, or things like that, we think of a police chase. This was not a police chase. This individual just refused to stop for us, so he continued to go just under the speed limit, or at the speed limit, and when he hit a red light, we were able to actually box him in, prevent him from going any further and make contact with him,” Soley explained.
The suspect — who had just been released on parole at the end of August — was arrested and transported to the Oakland County Jail. A search of his person recovered two pairs of “side cutters,” which Soley said are commonly used to cut security tags.
Inside the car, officers recovered three bags of stolen merchandise totaling $2,108.30.
“In this instance it was a lot of Nike sports goods — Nike sweatpants, athletic gear, that type of stuff. All Nike,” Soley said.
The suspect was set to be back in court Sept. 23, after press time. He did not have an attorney on file at press time.
“We follow the trends of the rest of our surrounding communities in the state and the country, and retail fraud is out of control — especially in that plaza,” Soley said.
Many of the retail fraud cases in the township, he said, occur in Bloomfield Town Square, which is located on Telegraph Road. Tenants — including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Costco and HomeGoods — draw high volumes of traffic to the center.
“It’s the location of that plaza, where you’re in and out of Telegraph pretty easy. Two, that’s pretty much our only big commercial area in the township. Dick’s Sporting Goods gets hit quite a bit, T.J. Maxx gets hit quite a bit, Costco gets hit quite a bit, HomeGoods gets hit quite a bit, and Burlington Coat Factory gets hit quite a bit. There’s that stretch there, and they come in and they steal and they leave our community. Typically, they’re not from our community.”
Another trend township police are reporting is an increase in juvenile retail fraud.
“What we’re starting to see a trend of, which is really alarming to us, is the juveniles, or the young people, that are coming in and stealing,” he said. “We know there are other people involved that are sending them there to do this, because the punishments are much less when you’re a juvenile, so it’s not really much of a punishment. That is a trend that we’re starting to see that’s alarming.”
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