Crime & Safety

UPDATE: New York Police Arrest, Identify Man Sought in Farms Burglaries After 100-Mile Chase

NY police say a 27-year-old Fraser man was arrested after a high-speed chase early Saturday. That man was driving a 1999 Acura stolen from a Grosse Pointe Farms home Friday, and is also sought in a stabbing and robbery of a 69-year-old Macomb woman.

A man sought in the burglary of two Farms homes Thursday and Friday was arrested in New York early Saturday after leading police on an "extraordinarily long" chase, according to Grosse Pointe Farms Police.

New York State Police identified the man as Joseph T. Reiner,  27, of Fraser.

The Fraser man is also a person of

Find out what's happening in Grosse Pointewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

New York State Police say Reiner was driving the 1999 Acura stolen from a home in the 400 block of Bournemouth in Grosse Pointe Farms early Friday.

Police in Roxbury, NJ, initiated the pursuit of the 1999 Acura on Route 80 early Saturday morning.

The pursuit was turned over to the New Jersey State Police, who followed the vehicle to the New York State line, where the New York State Police Troopers from Tarrytown eventually stopped the vehicle on the Tappan Zee Bridge in the town of Orangetown.

Upon taking Reiner into custody, New York State Police discovered he was a fugitive from justice from the state of Michigan, having violated a parole warrant.

Reiner was charged in New York with criminal possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment, unlawfully fleeing police, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, unlawful possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated, various vehicle and traffic violations, as well as being a fugitive from the state of Michigan.        

Reiner will be remanded to the Rockland County Jail in New York to await extradition proceedings from the parole division of the Michigan Department of Corrections. Additionally, the Roxbury, NJ, Police Department and the New Jersey State Police will be filing charges based on the crimes committed in their respective jurisdictions.

Find out what's happening in Grosse Pointewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Police said Reiner had stolen jewelry in the car, according to the release. Farms Detective Rick Good said it is not yet clear from whom the jewelry was stolen or the value. New York detectives were to take pictures and e-mail them to Good so he could show them to the Farms victims in hopes of finding the jewelry's owner. 

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said the man arrested has been identified as the individual in a photo they released earlier in the week as their person of interest in the stabbing of a 69-year-old Macomb woman.

The arrest was made Saturday morning following what Grosse Pointe Farms police have described as "an extraordinarily long police chase, possibly over 100 miles in distance." 

"What we’re told (by New York police) is that when he was arrested, he was in the vehicle stolen out of Grosse Pointe Farms," Wickersham said. "For our purposes he is just a suspect (in the Macomb case). We have been in contact with the Grosse Pointe Farms police and authorities in New York."

Good said he had talked with New York officers early Saturday and they planned to share their information with Michigan authorities.

Good plans to interview the Fraser man, but said the time frame is dependent on the other jurisdictions. New York police asked for documentation of the stolen car report to pursue a possession of a stolen vehicle charge there and because of the seriousness of the Macomb County case, theirs will likely be addressed first, Good said. 

Farms police said they believed the man was posing as a door-to-door snow shoveler in order to get close to the homes. He is suspected of breaking into a home in the 400 block of Moross Road Thursday, in which about $250 in loose change and a Wii game system were stolen. 

A suspicious neighbor in the 400 block of Bournemouth alerted police to the man's second break-in early Friday. Police found a single path of footprints in the snow at each home and the patterns matched. 

Wickersham said that detectives are still waiting to interview the stabbing victim, a 69-year-old Macomb Township woman who remains in the hospital.

The home invasion and stabbing occurred in the 49000 block of Fairchild at approximately 10 a.m. Feb. 23.

The suspect forcibly entered the home at Fairchild and 22 Mile, despite a deadbolt lock. According to the victim’s 911 call, he attempted to steal a purse and remove two rings from her hand. The victim was stabbed twice in the neck, but was conscious when deputies arrived at the scene.

Patch editors in New Jersey and New York also contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.