Dexter man charged in Webster Township home invasion, suspected in more across county

By John Counts Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Tue, Aug 21, 2012 : 12:15 p.m.

The 25-year-old Dexter man charged with home invasion for allegedly stealing jewelry from a Webster Township home is suspected in eight to 10 more break-ins throughout the county, police said.

Steven Paul Colwell was arrested and arraigned on the charge in the days after police took him into custody Aug. 9. Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office deputies nabbed Colwell after he and two other male suspects were reportedly spotted leaving a residence by the homeowner.

Steven Colwell

Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office

The homeowner told police she saw three men coming out of her house, hop in a car in the driveway and then drive across the lawn of her home, in the 7000 block of Quail Ridge. Colwell was located soon afterward by police.

Sgt. Geoff Fox of the sheriff’s office said police have identified two other suspects and continue to investigate. No charges have been brought against the two men.

But other home invasion charges against Colwell may follow. Fox said Colwell confessed to not only the Webster Township home invasion, but to numerous break-ins throughout Washtenaw County, including the city of Ann Arbor and the Dexter area.

Fox said detectives couldn’t be sure if Colwell was involved in the July 31 home invasion on Madden in Dexter Township, or similar incidents in the same area a few days earlier, but they couldn’t discount it, either.

“He is suspected of other (home invasions) in the (Dexter) area,” Fox said.

Colwell was scheduled for a preliminary examination in district court Tuesday. He remains in the Washtenaw County Jail on a 10 percent of $50,000 bond, according to jail records.