Arrest of suspect may solve series of B&Es to autos in city of Belleville

Belleville Police Chief Hal Berriman said the arrest of a 23-year-old male resident of Huron River Drive may solve a rash of breaking and enterings of autos over the last week in the Potter Drive / Huron River Drive area.
Chief Berriman said on Saturday there was a report of a larceny at Benito’s where a woman’s wallet was taken. Officer Sarah Dzagulones reviewed a surveillance video that showed the wallet being taken. She talked to the man in the video and checked his backpack.
The backpack had items taken from autos in the Clarence Street area and other areas. Police got a search warrant and found other items taken from Belleville residents, including a laptop and earphones.
Chief Berriman said the suspect admitted to stealing the items. On Tuesday morning he was in the Van Buren Township police lockup awaiting charges from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, which wanted to view the video before making a decision on the charges.
Police hope to get a larceny from a person charge from the Benito’s incident and additional larcenies from autos charges. He said he will release the man’s name after arraignment.
Chief Berriman said last Wednesday or Thursday a Potter Drive resident came in to report items taken from his car. He was hesitant to file a report, but did after the chief encouraged him so police would know the extent of the problem. The man later called to say his wife’s car, also, had been broke into.
He said Officer Jeff Wickham covered more larcenies from autos over the weekend and was working on a number of reports.
In addition, Chief Berriman said the suspect had been ticketed for a number of larcenies from autos in Van Buren Township and reportedly was arraigned on Monday.