Burglar Steals $30K in Jewelry in Most Recent Crime in Grosse Pointe Farms

A young man who has been spotted by several residents, including some whose homes he has burglarized, is believed to have early Tuesday at a home in the 200 block of Stephens Road, Lt. Richard Rosati said Wednesday.

The crime happened between 8 to 11:30 a.m. and the burglar went through many different areas of the home, including the basement where some weapons are stored. But he left the weapons and other valuables, such as two laptops sitting in the open, behind.

Rosati said initially the homeowner believed nothing had been stolen, but then his wife arrived home to discover her jewelry missing from a box in their bedroom, Rosati said.

The jewelry box appeared to be undisturbed when police searched the home Tuesday, whereas other areas that had been ransacked were left in that condition, he said.

The jewelry is estimated to be worth about $30,000, Rosati said.

Despite this theft, the burglar who is believed to be involved in , has not gotten much from most of the homes.

The first crime was on , prompting him to make a quick exit. He was seen leaving the home in a red car by a neighbor. 

The following is the list of burglaries committed or attempted since, including three that happened Monday, May 21, between 7 a.m. to noon:

• May 4: 10 block of Village Lane
• 
  
• May 17: 16900 block of East Jefferson
• May 21: 300 block of Cloverly Road; 20 block of Edgemere Road; 60 block of Lake Shore Road
• May 22: 200 block of Stephens Road

During the first four burglaries, there were no signs of forced entry to any of the homes. Police are urging residents to lock their doors even if they are home and especially if they are in the backyard planting flowers or doing something else outside.

In most cases, the burglar is searching bedrooms for jewelry and sometimes taking other valuables. In two cases, he's taken loose change that was stored in containers sitting in the homes—estimated to be more than $2,000 in total.

In the midst of the cases listed above, there was an attempted burglary reported May 19 in the  by a resident in the 300 block of Rivard. A person tried to enter through a window but could not get inside. This is close to the area where a resident reported suspicious knocking on doors in an apartment complex a few weeks ago in the daytime.

Rosati said two potential leads are being worked on currently, including one involving a fingerprint and one involving a search warrant for an IP address. As investigators await the results on both of those, they are encouraging residents to call police immediately if they notice anything suspicious.

Since the Stephens Road burglary Tuesday, the Farms police have received a call from a Cloverly Road resident who was concerned about a young man who was knocking on her neighbor's door, Rosati said. Her call was appreciated but she waited about three hours to call it in and that time is valuable to the investigation.

In addition to being proactive by locking doors, Rosati said some residents have encountered this young man knocking on their doors and offering services for which he is clearly not equipped to complete.

While canvassing Cloverly Road on Monday following the burglary there, detectives found a resident who recalled a young man who had knocked on his door close in time to the burglary. When the resident answered, the man offered to power wash his porch but the resident noted the man did not have powerwashing equipment, Rosati said.

The young man has also offered to paint houses when residents ask, Rosati said. Any type of solicitation is illegal, so residents are encouraged to call those in to police, Rosati said, explaining that sometimes those are the bits of information that lead to arrests.

In the burglary on Edgemere on Monday, a resident did not answer a knock to the front door as he was working. A few minutes later he heard someone walking in his hallway—making it the third time the burglar has entered a home with a resident inside.

At this point, given the circumstances of the burglaries and what is being taken, what is being left behind and the repeated entry of homes that are occupied by residents suggests the burglar is not a seasoned criminal but "an amateur," Rosati said. Most burglars are unlikely to enter basements because there is generally no quick escape, Rosati said, but basements have been entered in at least two of the nine burglaries. 

Detectives are trying to determine whether the young man is working alone or with a partner. Initially investigators believed he was working alone but joggers on Lake Shore Road reported seeing two young men leave that home. A neighbor in another burglary reported seeing two young men leave.

Police recommend being alert not only to your own home but also to neighbors and be proactive about calling police if anything seems off or out of place. Ultimately, the police would rather check on it and have it be nothing than not know about it and have a crime happen.

"He is brazen," Rosati said of this young man suspected in the burglaries. "Noises in your house shouldn't be ignored. Don't dismiss it as the wind. Call police."

Thus far, the burglar has been non-confrontational, Rosati said, but his willingness to enter a home where a resident is possibly home is worrisome.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 313-885-2100 or call 911 if there is something suspicious happening.