Crime Report: Brighton Man OK After Going Missing From Canton

A Brighton man reported missing in Canton has been found safe, according to Canton Township police.

Canton officers responded Jan. 16 to the 40000 block of Tamarack Drive for a report of a missing person, according to a police report.

A woman there told police she and her husband were helping move their daughter into her new home when her husband became upset because his truck’s battery died. The woman told police her husband said he was going to walk home to Brighton.

The woman told police her husband left at 9:45 p.m. She called police at 3:20 a.m., the report said. Dispatchers contacted local hotels and motels, but were unable to find the man. Canton Police said the man was found safe some time later, but additional details were not available.

Man reports suspected illegal use of bank card

On Jan. 14, Canton Township police met with a man at the station who said a friend of his had stolen money from his bank account, according to a police report.

The man told police he met his friend “through friends” and near the holidays he was visiting with friends and allowed the man to stay with him at three separate hotels in the area. He said the two stayed together at a Motel 6 in Canton, where he said his friend removed the debit card from his wallet and used it at ATMs. He told police his friend somehow also had his PIN, and reported multiple unauthorized transactions on his account.

The man told police he was staying at the Red Roof Inn on Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth Township at the time of one of the charges, a $200 withdrawal. He told police he canceled the account Jan. 13, filed a police report in Farmington Hills and also was filing a report in Plymouth Township.

The man told police he never saw the man with his card or noticed it missing, but said he thinks his friend might have taken it while he was sleeping. He told police he drove his friend to various banks where the man said he was applying for employment, but that he suspects his friend might have been making deposits.

Spoon, syringe found on suspected shoplifter

Canton Township police responded Jan. 17 to on Michigan Avenue in response to a woman who was suspected of shoplifting, according to a police report. 

The woman was having what was believed to be an asthma attack, the report said, so the Canton Fire Department also was dispatched to the store.

A loss-prevention officer at the store told police the woman took three items from the electronics section and began opening the packages. The employee told police the woman entered the restroom with one of the items and when she exited the restroom, she tried to conceal all the items inside her purse.

According to the report, the woman was confronted by the employee after passing the cash registers without paying for the items. Employees recovered two of the items, a memory card and a laptop charger totaling $88.76.

The woman told police she had a panic attack inside the store and inadvertently exited without paying for the items. When police tried to identify the woman, she gave a name that differed from what was on her driver’s license, the report said. The woman told police the license belonged to her twin sister, even though the date on the license did not match what she told police. Other documents in the woman's purse also had the name that was on the license.

Inside her purse, police found a clear plastic bag with a spoon and syrings, the report said. The spoon had residue and the syringe had been used. The woman told police she had used heroin that day. Police also located a mini charger inside the woman’s purse that employees said belonged to Walmart.

According to the report, the woman appeared to be under the influence of drugs, acting fidgety and grabbing at herself, and she refused treatment at a hospital.

The woman also had warrants for dangerous drugs in Ann Arbor, for cocaine in Ypsilanti and third-degree retail fraud in Canton, the report said. She was cited for third-degree retail fraud, possession of paraphernalia and hindering and obstructing a police officer and is due in court Feb. 1, the report said.

For questions about this blotter, contact john.mckay@patch.com.