SONIC task force makes arrest in auto theft case

NOVI — A 25-year-old Detroit man was arrested for a string of auto thefts due to the efforts of an undercover Novi police officer and the South Oakland Narcotics Intelligence Consortium.

SONIC is a multijurisdictional task force composed of detectives from the Novi Police Department, the Farmington Hills Police Department, the West Bloomfield Police Department and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

On May 2, detectives with SONIC obtained and implemented a warrant from the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for the arrest of James Edward White III. The team arrested White for nine felony charges, including seven counts of unlawful driving away of an automobile, one count of larceny $1,000-$20,000, and one count of running a criminal enterprise.

White was arrested by SONIC detectives and is currently being held in the Oakland County Jail on a $100,000 bond. He was scheduled for a preliminary examination in Novi’s 52-1 District Court May 22, after the Novi Note went to press.

White’s attorney, Richard T. Taylor, declined to comment when reached earlier this week.

White’s arrest was the result of an investigation, by SONIC, into a series of automobile thefts that reportedly took several months to complete. It brings closure to open motor vehicle theft cases in 11 jurisdictions in southeast Michigan and northern Ohio, according to Novi police.

“Motor vehicle theft has been on the rise in southeast Michigan over the last couple years, but we remain steadfast in protecting the property of the people who live, visit, and work in our cities. By sharing resources with our neighboring communities through the SONIC Task Force, we are able to apply a force multiplier against those that would commit these crimes,” Erick Zinser, Novi director of public safety and chief of police said in a press release. “I am proud of the work the detectives did in this case and the work they continue to do, and I thank them for their efforts.”