Crime Report: Dearborn Businesses Targeted for Store, Parking Lot Thefts

Dearborn businesses have been the target of multiple thefts in April, according to reports.

Break-ins and thefts have been reported as happening both during and after business hours; from the store and from cars in the parking lot.

An employee of on Schaefer reported that her purse was stolen by a customer on April 13.

According to the employee, when she came into work, she placed her purse in an empty cart in a rush because the store was very busy. As she checked out a group of three females, she thought she saw her purse in their cart, but did not know it was hers. Upon further inspection of the store, the employee said she realized that the purse was hers, and that the women had taken it.

The purse contained her ID, $60 in cash and a debit card.

Also on April 13, an employee of the Dearborn Country Club reported to Dearborn police that her car was broken into while she was at work, between 4 and 9:40 p.m. The front passenger window of her Dodge Caliber had been shattered, and a bag containing cash, her social security card, two bank cards and a credit card had been taken.

On April 14, an employee of O'Reilly Auto Parts on Schaefer told police that a man and woman had stolen a $130 toolbox. The couple entered together, and the man browsed the aisles as the woman left the store. He then ran out the door carrying the toolbox and got into a Silver Chevy Impala driven by the female. They fled south through the parking lot.

The owner of the Back to the Basic Hair Salon on Schaefer reported a break-in to her business between 10:30 p.m. April 14 and 10 a.m. April 15. According to police reports, she came in the morning of April 15 and found that the door had been pried open. A metal cash box containing $60 had been taken, as well as $18 in change from the register and a DVD player and Wii game.

The store had no alarm system or security cameras.

At Miller Fruit Market, the owner reported an attempted break-in on April 17 that had happened overnight. He said he had closed and locked the business at 11 p.m. April 16 and came in at 9:30 a.m. the next morning to find that the glass entry door had been damaged with a brick, but not broken all the way through.

Lastly, management at on Schaefer reported a theft from their delivery van on April 16 of 28 silver candlesticks left from a wedding they had catered the previous evening. Surveillance footage of the lot showed a car pulling up next to the van around 1 a.m. The driver entered the van and made three trips back to his car holding several objects–suspectedly the candlesticks.

Dearborn police have not yet made arrests in any of the thefts from local businesses.

For questions on the police blotter, email jessica.carreras@patch.com.