Judge William Szlinis bound two Sumpter Township residents over to Wayne County Circuit Court for trial on charges of first-degree home invasion.
Judge Syzlinis, retired from the 34th District Court bench, was filling in for Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green on July 14 at the Romulus court.
Richard Levoid Johnson and Demetre Maurice Brown-Lovelace, both 19, were returned to the Wayne County Jail to await their July 21 court appearance at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
Their $100,000 cash bond was continued.
Judge Szlinis was considering the attorneys’ requests for pretrial bond service reviews for the co-defendants with the possibility of reducing their bonds, when Sumpter Police Detective John Toth jumped up in the courtroom and told the judge the bond that was set was cash bond, not 10%.
“Oh, that makes a big difference,” Judge Szlinis agreed, continuing the set bond.
The two men were apprehended by police on June 29, one after he allegedly was seen by police leaving the residence just broken into and the other at the hospital where he was taken by friends after he cut himself on the glass broken for entry.
At first, police thought two men were sleeping in the residence that was broken into and entered by the intruders, but Sumpter Police Chief Jim Pierce said police found out later that one of the men had left before the break in and the other was sleeping.
“A man should feel safe sleeping in his own home in Sumpter Township,” said Chief Pierce, who attended the court session on July 14 in case he was needed as an eye witness in the preliminary exam, which was set for the two co-defendants.
The two residents of the home on Sumpter Road near Dunn Road were also present in the courtroom, along with Sumpter Police Sgt. McGlynn and Det. Toth, both of whom were on vacation. Toth had driven from Traverse City, where he was on vacation, to attend the court session for the preliminary exam.
But the two defendants chose to waive their rights to preliminary exams and go right to circuit court.
Chief Pierce said the home invasion charges are very serious and could lead to life imprisonment, since the home was occupied and a knife was found on one of the men.