Ann Arbor man charged with 8 felonies in vehicle break-ins
A 25-year-old Ann Arbor man faces eight charges of breaking into vehicles after he was arrested Monday on the city’s west side, court records show.

Charles Dutton
Courtesy of WCSO
Dutton was arrested by uniformed officers on patrol about 10 p.m. Monday after they spotted a white conversion van believed to have been used in larcenies the previous night. Police said stolen property was recovered from the van and a home on Ann Arbor’s west side.
To this point, he’s the only person facing criminal charges stemming from Monday’s arrests.
Police released a warning to residents last week about an increase in the number of vehicle break-ins throughout the city and then reported 12 more incidents occurring on Sunday and Monday. Thieves would go through parking lots and spot a vehicle with valuable items in plain sight before entering through an unlocked door or smashing a window to get inside.
Dutton is free on bond after posting 10 percent of $25,000, according to jail records. He returns to court for a preliminary examination at 8:30 a.m. March 28.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
himjo
Fri, Mar 22, 2013 : 12:48 a.m.
Is this gentleman going to have to reimburse the victims, or will they have to pay for the damages and losses themselves? And if not, then some laws need tweaked.
vivian
Fri, Mar 22, 2013 : 10:40 a.m.
In my experience (limited, fortunately), once the person who's stolen from you is convicted, he's put under some legal obligation to make restitution and/or restore your property. The fellow who stole from me went back to jail (he'd been on probation when he committed the new crime), and either he had no resources to repay me or I was too far down the line of victims--I never found out which. It's a shame, but petty thieves often spend what they get as soon as they get it and have nothing with which to make restitution. We might do better, as nickcarraweigh seems to be suggesting, to go after the people who buy (and perhaps re-sell) stolen goods, at least in cases where objects of value are involved. That's no help for those of us who lost cash or objects of sentimental value only, but it might help in a broad way.
nickcarraweigh
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 11:51 p.m.
Be nice to find out who bought all the stolen stuff, wouldn't it?
Basic Bob
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 10:59 p.m.
The only things that prevent most burglars from stealing are prison or drug treatment. The courts know this, and so in many cases they are willing to sentence probation with conditions that they go to residential and outpatient treatment and submit to random drug testing. When it doesn't work, prison is the other effective option. And for some, even that is not a sure bet.
Superior Twp voter
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 8:57 p.m.
GREAT job, A2 P.D. !
a2citizen
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 7:44 p.m.
Advice to the victims reading this: seek restitution. Read today's article by Rich Kinsey http://www.annarbor.com/news/opinion/bullwinkle-belatedly-bagged-bellevillian-bicycle-burglars/
you can't handle the truth
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 7:25 p.m.
Unfortunately in this town in front of these judges, if you have no priors, you are looking at no worse than a couple years probation for something like this. Better lock your stuff up and keep it out of sight!
a2citizen
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 8:35 p.m.
Unfortunately, this is true in every town across the country.
DBH
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 7:01 p.m.
OK, clearly not Charles Dutton the actor, although he also was in trouble with the law as a young adult. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_S._Dutton
Bertha Venation
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 7:36 p.m.
My thought exactly, DBH!
Paul
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 6:29 p.m.
Yea, the police do sometimes catch them on their own. Good job.
mstairs
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.
I'm with jcj. We must organize a support rally for the accused at once. Where did Mr. Dutton attend high school? Has that school board drafted a resolution for alternatives to prosecution?
Youwhine
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.
"...He returns to court for a preliminary examination at 8:30 a.m. March 28." Let's not count our eggs before they hatch. He is SCHEDULED to return to court on March 28th. We have seen before how likely that is, given the low bonds offered to those facing numerous offenses.
Paul
Thu, Mar 21, 2013 : 6:31 p.m.
He's not going anywhere. Its very hard to elude capturer once your wanted. Sure they might run for a bit but then they be gone "forever"