Ypsilanti police follow footprints in snow to find Christmas gift thief
A trail of footprints in the snow led Ypsilanti police to a man who stole a Christmas gift from a woman's car this morning, a police news release said.
The 45-year-old Ypsilanti man was arrested after being found at an apartment in the 500 block of North Congress Street about 12:45 a.m., the release said.
A 22-year-old woman reported that she looked out her bedroom window and saw a man walking away from her car with a drill she bought for someone as a Christmas present.
It's unclear how the man got into her car. She rushed downstairs and saw him cross the street, then lost sight of him, a police incident log said.
Officers followed footprints to the apartment and heard people inside arguing about bringing stolen property there, the release said.
Officers were given consent to search the apartment and didn't find the drill, but located a man matching the description of the thief. His shoe size and tread matched up with the footprints, the release said.
Officers detained the man and followed another trail of footprints from the apartment to a Dumpster, where they recovered the drill still in its box.
The car owner positively identified the man as the thief. He was taken to the Washtenaw County Jail on a parole violation, the release said. He's expected to be arraigned today on a charge of larceny from an automobile, police said.
Comments
willmiller82
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 3:08 p.m.
Good work ypsi PD keep it up.
Black Coffee :)
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 2:16 p.m.
Parole violation, release, This says it all about our court system troubles. I can hear the judge now saying please don't do this again now go on your way and be a good boy
Lee Higgins
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 1:41 p.m.
Galluper, Thanks for the comment. Obviously, we must attribute information in our articles. You'll find that "the release said" is used by news outlets across the country.
djm12652
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 1:38 p.m.
@Galluper..."alleged" crime...could be typos...
Galluper
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 1:26 p.m.
The real crime here is the use of "release said" in 5 of 8 paragraphs in the story.
djm12652
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 1:21 p.m.
Well, at least the "alleged" thief will be "home" for the holidays....
stevek
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 1:02 p.m.
I'm sure he is very remorseful and regrets what he has done. I'm sure he won't do it again and again and again and again.
glimmertwin
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 10:02 a.m.
This one may be on the most stupid criminal's tv show.
jcj
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 9:33 a.m.
It would appear that this guy just wanted to get back to some free room and board.
zollar
Wed, Dec 9, 2009 : 9:23 a.m.
" It was unclear how the man got into the car "......duh.