During the month of August the department worked 217 incidents or cases. Of that, nine were ordinance violations, 3 drunk drivers, 14 responses to car accidents, 13 medical assists, and 18 assists to other agencies.
Vehicle Incidents
The department received a called about a stolen trailer from a contractor’s work site. The contractor was in jail and his son went to pick up the trailer from a work site, but it was gone. A separate contractor took the trailer claiming it was “abandoned’ and the owner owed him money; so he took the trailer as payment. The $5,000 value of the trailer was not equal to the amount owed. The original contractor’s son was able to pick up the trailer without incident.
A minor car accident occurred when one party was sitting at a red light. The car behind kept inching forward and eventually hit the rear of the car. An elderly person was in the vehicle which was inching forward. An ambulance came to check her out because she didn’t seem quite right. She was on medication and fell asleep in the cruiser at one point. Her case was turned over to the state so her driver’s license could be reexamined.
In a hit and run, a female from the Lowell area hit a mailbox. This was witnessed by the owner’s neighbor. A female driving a tan truck broke the box in half and drove away after $70 in damage was done. The truck was later found and the owner knew who was driving the truck but admitted not seeing anything. The female who was driving the truck denied being at the location of the damaged mailbox and said she was at her boyfriend’s house in Ionia. An officer took photos of the truck, which had damage matching what would have been caused by the hit and run. The boyfriend was also questioned and said he was not with his girlfriend. The case was turned over to the prosecutor and the female was cited with failure to report a property damage accident.
Dispatch was called to a hit and run involving a bicycle. The person on the bike was stopped at Main and Alden Nash when a hit the bike, flipping the rider over the car. The driver asked if the rider was ok but then took off going west on Main. The driver was not located or IDed.
The Case of the Stolen Uhaul
A female was moving items from an apartment complex in Lowell to Muskegon. While inside the apartment getting more items, the Uhaul truck with AZ plates which was being loaded was stolen with items valued at approximately $10,000. Witnesses say they saw the truck there all day but just noticed it was gone, not who took it.
The missing Uhaul was reported. Not long after a vehicle matching the description was seen at a gas station at Cascade and I96 by a Kent County Sheriff. Surveillance video could not be reviewed that day but a witness said two white males were in the truck. The video was reviewed the following day but nothing was found.
The manager of the gas station found video of two male buying drinks and other things. A description of the suspects was obtained but the victim didn’t recognize either male.
It was soon discovered that the Uhaul at the gas station was a GMC or Chevy, not a Ford like the one which was stolen. The vehicle was stopped later in Tropicana, FL. The plate ID was correct but the contents in the vehicle were wrong. It turned out the wrong plate number was written down for the stolen truck.
The correct plate number was found and that vehicle was located in Holland. Some of the property was found, but not all of it.
During a routine traffic stop, a vehicle traveling north on Hudson pulled into a driveway and hit the curb. The female driver tried to walk away and was eventually put in the back of the police vehicle. A male passenger said the driver was his girlfriend. An open half empty whiskey bottle was in the car. The driver had a roadside blood alcohol level of .25. Charges of OWI 2nd offense and high blood alcohol level were given out.
A vehicle approached an officer at a high rate of speed, doing 55 in a 35. The driver was stopped for speeding. The officer noticed the driver had glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol. The male driver admitted he was coming from a bar in Grand Rapids and was arrested for OWI. His roadside blood alcohol level was .18 and it was .17 at the jail.
A vehicle stopped at the blinking light at Hudson and Main and did not move. A traffic stop was performed by an officer where 3.3 grams of marijuana, a BB gun, and marijuana device were all found. The driver was put through field sobriety and other tests to attempt to check for drugs. The driver was arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs. A juvenile female passenger was also arrested and lodged in a detention center.
Other Incidents
An officer visited a residence on a tip for a subject with warrants. A person at the home said the subject wouldn’t be home until 9. The officer then went to get gas. While there, items including needles and forceps were taken from a vehicle. In the process of taking that truck back to the owner’s residence, the subject originally wanted but who wasn’t home was located.
During a call to a bar over an intoxicated female who refused to leave, an officer was told by the subject that she just wanted to talk to people. She apparently had a confrontation with some of the other customers. She eventually decided she would leave and walk home, not taking the officer up on an offer to drive.
An officer pulled into a trailer park after seeing an argument between two people. The female half said she was arguing with her boyfriend after finding out he was seeing someone on the side. They were fighting over items in a vehicle. The male half said the female half tried to stab him with scissors earlier in the day.
In a case of an in home larceny, some medication went missing. The man of the home believed the in home care person who came to his house for physical therapy took the medication.
In a case of identity fraud, an Old Navy card was opened in a person’s name, who was called saying she owed money. Later, a similar call was received over an Eddie Bauer credit card with a balance. The fraud was turned over to the credit card company to investigate.
The department assisted a Kent County Sheriff in a retail fraud incident at Meijer. A suspect fled on foot after taking three bottles of liquor. The suspect was chased into the Whispering Hills subdivision and was eventually caught. Upon being caught, the person started drinking some of the alcohol which was stolen. Charges of obstructing a police officer and retail fraud were filed.
An elderly female developed a friendship through a mutual friend with someone in California. The CA resident convinced the elderly woman to wire $10,000 in order to not lose her house. A bank teller in CA noticed the wire transfer and became alerted because two other transfers in the same amount were set to be deposited to the account.
While using radar to perform speed checks on Main Street, an officer ran a plate and determined the owner of a vehicle had two warrants out for his arrest. Upon being stopped, he was compliant.
An arson incident occurred at Center Court Apartments when a dumpster was deliberately put on fire. The police made contact with the person who called about the fire. A suspect from a previous fire earlier in the summer was a person of interest. The juvenile wasn’t found that day, but found later in the month.
A male went to a local dealership for a part. The shop was busy and all computers were being used. Words were exchanged between the male and an employee. As the employee walked away, the male customer elbowed him and said, “Don’t mess with me, my dog just died.” The customer was told to leave.
In a retail fraud incident, two people stole tobacco products while an employee was in a back room. Surveillance video was checked and reviewed by police. An officer on patrol IDed the suspect and vehicle. The subject was pulled over and admitted to stealing, also indicating being a recovering heroin addict trying to get by. The second subject from the video was not in the vehicle at the time.
Several larceny incidents were reported in Valley Vista. Money, cigarettes, and other small items were taken from cars. In each case, the cars were not locked.
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