Teens charged with car theft, vehicle break-ins

Vantae Pitts

Michael Tolbert

A pair of 17-year-olds from Detroit have been charged with vehicle theft and larceny from parked cars in Northville Township.
As part of an increased holiday shopping patrol effort, a Northville Township officer was driving through the parking lot at the Meijer store at Eight Mile and Haggerty Road at about 5:45 p.m. Dec. 7 when he was approached by a shopper who claimed that their car had been broken into and items stolen while they had been in the store.
The officer discovered that several other vehicles had also been broken into in the lot and items such as cell phones, laptop computers and other valuables had been stolen.  Another victim reported that that two men had stolen an unlocked car with the keys inside from the parking lot and had fled the scene.
The officer notified the loss prevention team at the store and the officer and Meijer employees reviewed surveillance video tapes and were able to identify the suspects leaving the parking lot in the stolen car.
Meijer loss prevention officers notified other Meijer stores in the area and later in the week, the pair was seen in the Meijer store in Livonia where one of the loss prevention officers recognized the teens entering the building, explained Northville Township Detective Bureau Supervisor Sgt. Doug Scoggins. Livonia police wer notified and arrested the pair at the scene.
Northville officers picked the pair up and transported them to the police station and detectives submitted a warrant request to the office of the Wayne County prosecutor.
Michael Tolbert and Vantae Pitts, each 17, and both from Detroit were arraigned Dec. 15 in the 34th district Court in Romulus and have been charged with felony offenses. Tolbert is charged with motor vehicle theft, receiving and concealing stolen property, larceny from auto and breaking and entering of a vehicle.  Pitts is being charged with motor vehicle theft and receiving and concealing stolen property.  Judge Michael Golematis ordered Tolbert held on a $10,000 bond and Pitts on a $5,000 bond. The pair will appear in 35th District Court Dec. 27 for a probable cause hearing on the charges.
Police estimate the pair had taken $1,700 worth of goods from cars in addition to taking the unlocked vehicle which was recovered by police and returned to the owner. 
The Northville Township Police Department Lock it or Lose it initiative, a program to help deter thefts from vehicles and homes, is currently under way.
For more information about the program, contact Northville Township Police Chief Paul Tennies, at (248) 662-0455 or visit twp.northville.mi.us.