Chase Alan Basham of Sumpter pleads guilty to eight porch theft charges

34th District Court Chief Judge Brian A. Oakley approved a plea deal that dismissed half of the charges against Chase Alan Basham, 36, of Sumpter Township in exchange for guilty pleas for the other half.
Judge Oakley sentenced Basham to a year of non-reporting probation and restitution to the victims for stealing packages off their porches in Van Buren Township just before Christmas.
Basham was arraigned Dec. 22 by 34th District Court in Romulus on 16 misdemeanor counts after he was arrested in Van Buren Township.
On Jan. 2, Basham pleaded guilty to four charges of taking mail and four charges of larceny under $200. In exchange, four charges of taking mail and four charges of larceny were dismissed, including a charge of larceny between $200 and $1,000.
Besides probation, Judge Oakley sentenced Basham to pay a total of $908 in fines, $763 of which was to be disbursed by the court to the victims as restitution. This will be paid in installments of $95 a month, beginning Feb. 3 and paid in full by the time his probation ends.
He also is required to spend 12 days on the court work program in lieu of incarceration. Basham also is ordered to have no new offenses or his probation would be ended and he would be jailed.
Van Buren Township Police Chief Jason Wright said on or about Dec. 18, several larcenies of packages from residents’ porches had occurred in the areas of Roland Meadows, Andover Farms, and Country Walk subdivision.
Van Buren Township Police posted a Dec. 18 surveillance recording on Facebook showing a man carrying an empty box up to a porch on Cambridge Court in Country Walk subdivision and then leaving with a box that had been on the porch.
Police said he apparently knew of the Ring doorbell surveillance because he kept his face hidden. He was identified as driving a black Chevrolet Equinox Traverse that stopped near the home. The suspect was wearing a very distinctive jacket, police said.
Suspect Basham was charged with the thefts.
Basham was arraigned on one count of larceny with value between $200 and $1,000 (1-year misdemeanor); seven counts of larceny under $200 (93-day misdemeanors); and eight counts of taking, holding, concealing mail meant for another (1-year misdemeanors).
Chief Wright said Basham was arraigned through 34th District Court and his bond set at $10,000/10%.