Man accused of distracting police with fake crime report, then stealing Vicodin from pharmacy
A 29-year-old Saline man was arrested Thursday evening for breaking into the Saline Pharmacy and stealing Vicodin after attempting to throw police off his trail by calling in a fake break-in at his old address.
The man, whose name will be released after he is arraigned, confessed to police Thursday that he called in a fake burglary report and then broke into the pharmacy, 75 E. Bennett St., to steal Vicodin, according to Det. Don Lupi. The man also admitted to stealing Vicodin from the same pharmacy early on Christmas morning, Lupi said.
“It was a team effort and a lot of officers worked together and in the end we were able to apprehend the suspect,” Lupi said. “In subsequent interviews, he confessed his involvement.”
Police were dispatched at 1:07 a.m. Thursday to the 700 block of Valley Circle Drive for a report of one man breaking into the caller’s gold Chevrolet Cavalier and two other men attempting to break into the caller’s apartment. However, police found that the occupant of the apartment was asleep and had not called the department, according to the police report.
While talking with the resident at the apartment, police received another call alerting them that the Saline Pharmacy had been victimized by an intruder and Vicodin was stolen from behind the counter, according to the report.
Lupi said the man who was arrested later admitted that the address he directed police to was the apartment where he used to live.
At 1:14 a.m., police responded to the pharmacy and found the lower right pane of glass on the double front entrance doors had been partially broken out, the report stated. The hole was large enough for a person to enter, according to the report.
Pittsfield Township police provided back up for the Saline police at the scene of the crime and a K-9 unit from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office was also called in, according to the report.
The search dog found a black knit cap with a Jet’s Pizza logo on a path while walking eastbound away from the pharmacy, according to the police report. The 29-year-old man had worked at a local Jet’s Pizza, according to the report.
The man was only employed by the store for a short period earlier this week and was not a current employee at the time of his arrest, according to an official with Jet's Pizza.
The report stated police determined the man had entered and exited the pharmacy through the broken pane of glass and had jumped over the counter in order to steal 650 Vicodin pills. In the early Christmas morning burglary, approximately 200 pills were stolen from the pharmacy, according to the report.
Lupi said the man neutralized one of the pharmacy’s video cameras in the Thursday morning burglary, but there were other cameras that would have caught him on video.
A partial fingerprint was found during the investigation of Thursday’s incident and was used to identify the man, according to the report. He was arrested Thursday afternoon and admitted his involvement in the incident to Lupi later that evening, according to the report.
The man told Lupi he had thrown three rocks at the glass door and then hit his shoulder against the glass 10 times before it broke, according to the report. That incident was reported to police at 1:56 a.m. on Dec. 25 by a burglary alarm, according to the report.
The break-in early on Christmas morning was much the same as the one reported Thursday. The glass had been repaired following the original incident, according to the report.
Lupi said police were able to identify the man’s voice based on the call he made to report the fake breaking and entering incident. While police have the ability to find out where a call is coming from when someone calls 911, the man had called the department’s business line, making it impossible to immediately discover where the call was coming from, Lupi said.
The man is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday morning at the Washtenaw County Jail, Lupi said.
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
Damien Woodi
Tue, Jan 17, 2012 : 4:03 p.m.
Vicodin which is popularly known as a narcotic drug which has two main components called Paracetamol and Hydrocodone. Medical experts prescribe this medicine to their patients in cases of moderate and sever pain. Vicodin is easily available at most of the pharmacy and Online as well. One of the most accepted and sought after pain reliever in US today is none other than Vicodin. Mentions findrxonline.net which more than forty billion is spent every year by Americans to consume this drug. This beautiful speaks about the popularity and the effective results produced by Vicodin. Do Did you know that Vicodin is an opium based medicine? It is in fact to derivative of opium.
BhavanaJagat
Mon, Jan 9, 2012 : 3:46 p.m.
The Problem of Pain : This is a story about a person who has repeatedly stolen pain relief medications from a pharmacy. The underlying fact of the problem of pain is not reported or properly investigated. State of Michigan must appoint an independent panel of doctors to investigate the use of Vicodin pills and give us the information to understand the nature of pain experienced by these individuals who are currently given prescriptions for the use of Vicodin. To begin with, the medical documents and prescriptions must be scrutinized and be evaluated to know the therapeutic relevance of Vicodin to alleviate the signs and symptoms revealed by the clinical examination of the patients. This theft is like the tip of the iceberg. There is a much bigger problem that is hidden from our view.
Vette96drvr
Mon, Jan 9, 2012 : 3:40 a.m.
Hey, (finally) a story where they actually give you enough details to get a pretty complete picture of what happened. What a nice change. Thanks!
BhavanaJagat
Sun, Jan 8, 2012 : 2:02 a.m.
The Untold Story : Thanks to AnnArbor.com, I get this second chance to post a comment on this story. It seems that we all get a second chance in our lives and we can use the second chance to improve upon our performance. The man in this story is no exception. He has apparently used his second chance to improve upon his performance on the first occasion. But, we may have to wait and see if the confession is valid or not. I am more concerned about the 'Untold Story'. Apparently, the pharmacy stroes in our community are selling a lot of vicodin pills. These are prescription drugs. The pharmacy would be able to sell these pills if there are valid. and legal prescriptions for these pills. It is a controlled chemical substance and can cause drug dependence, and later on even drug addiction. Doctors providing pain relief to their patients must use discretion in writing these prescriptions. I want to know as to how many prescriptions are dispensed by this pharmacy in any given period of time, say in a month's time. How many patients are using this prescription drug at this particular pharmacy? I want to hear this part of the story. It is important to understand the nature of this problem. It is not a simple theft and it has implications about the problem of drug use and abuse in the community. There could be just one or two doctors writing all of these prescriptions, or there could be several doctors writing these prescriptions. It could be just a few patients receiving these pills or there could be much more prevalent use of these pills. We need to understand this issue by giving accurate numbers from the pharmacy records. I am only seeking numbers and not private or confidential patient information. I know that I can improve a person's pain tolerance and pain resistance. A person's need for pain relief medications can be reduced if the person is pain tolerant and pain resistant. In the Armed Forces medical practice, we expect men to defend and withstand pain.
Momma G
Sat, Jan 7, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
We need tougher laws for these jerks! Hope he gets a long prison term, but knowing our court system, I'm sure he will be back out and doing the same thing again. Sounds like he prefers Saline Pharmacy. What will his next crime involve?
Saw
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 11:33 p.m.
Congrats to our men in uniform for catching this guy. Just for the record," if " this is the same guy that several complaints about him were made to the police about him standing on his balcony yelling down to the parking lot to his "people" that he had Vics for sale then he shouldnt be felt sorry for. Drugs and alcohol are both an issue for the whole bunch of them. Having lived in the same area for sometime and witnessing over and over blantant crimes being commited day and night with no reguard to who saw or heard I knew it was only a matter of time before he wound up in a cell or shot in a drug deal gone wrong. I really hope it is the same guy and the whole complex can sleep more safely.
rusty shackelford
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 8:35 p.m.
Very sad, this man clearly needs help with a Vicodin addiction.
ranger007
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.
Or he is dealing it
ranger007
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 7:58 p.m.
He will be out roaming the streets after his court appearance when the judge releases him with a promise to appear back in court.
RJA
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 6:37 p.m.
Great Job, Saline, Pittsfield and WCSD!!!
justcurious
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 6:18 p.m.
Great detective work! Congratulations to all on a job well done. We are fortunate to have such accomplished people protecting us and our property. Also Kyle, good reporting.