Crime Report: Dearborn Businesses Targeted for Theft, Vandalism

A series of break-ins, thefts and vandalism swept through the Dearborn business community within the past week, according to Dearborn police reports.

On Jan. 21 around 11 a.m., a receptionist at on Carlysle reported that the awning at the rear of the building had apparently been cut with a sharp object about 30 times. Also, someone had vandalized the awning, writing the tag "Slitz" several times. The receptionist said that it must have happened some time overnight, as the awning was in-tact at 7 p.m. the previous day.

The same day at Reem's Gift Shop on Warren Avenue, police came to the scene after the shop's alarm went off around 6 a.m. and found that the front glass door had been broken into. Police contacted the owner, who went through the store and confirmed that five cartons of cigarettes, phone cards, several hookah pipes and tobacco were missing–as well as $620 in cash from the register.

The owner of on Warren Avenue reported to police that his business was also broken into on Jan. 21. An employee found that a section of the entry door had been shattered with a brick. The only thing missing appeared to be a donation box containing around $150 dollars.

A surveillance video showed that the break-in happened around 10 p.m. and was committed by a white man, possibly Arabic, wearing blue jeans, a grey sweatshirt and a white hooded jacket with black stripes.

A similar suspect was observed on the surveillance footage of the on Greenfield, where police responded to an alarm activation around 8 p.m. Jan. 22. The video showed the man prying the front door open, stealing candy and six airsoft rifles, and exiting through a second-story window that led to a back stairwell.

The incidents follow a string of residential break-ins reported this month, where often thousands of dollars in jewelry, cash and electronics have been stolen from area homes.

For more information on this police blotter, contact jessica.carreras@patch.com.