Four defendants – all Ypsilanti residents — held their preliminary exams together before 34th District Court Chief Judge Tina Brooks Green on Oct. 16 for their alleged parts in the stealing of credit cards and wallets from cars at Harbour Club apartments on Sept. 24.
After the exam, Judge Green bound over all four on the charges for an Oct. 30 arraignment on the information at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Bernardi asked the judge to drop charge six since they were unable to prove there were six cards stolen. Charged with five counts of stealing a financial transaction device are:
• Kentaria Shi-Tarra Cummings, 27, who is also charged with driving while license suspended-2nd. She is accused of being the driver of the getaway car and was represented by attorney Whitney Lemelin, who was filling in for her court-appointed attorney Brigid Markey;
• Samuel Malcolm Hamilton, 19, who was defended by his court-appointed attorney Whitney Lemelin;
• Jarvier Savar McIntyre, 18, defended by court-appointed attorney Duane Johnson; and
• Alexander Harrison McMullan, 19, defended by court-appointed attorney Robert Jurczyk.
Each was free on $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
Before the exam began, attorney Lemelin stated there was no conflict of interest with him representing Hamilton and also standing in for Cummings’ attorney who could not be present.
First witness brought by Prosecutor Bernardi was Van Buren Township Police Officer Christopher Hayes, who testified that on Sept. 24 at 3:30 a.m. he was on road patrol and was dispatched to Harbour Club apartments. The reporting party who called 911 said a car alarm was heard and three individuals with backpacks were in the parking lot.
Officer Hayes said when he got there he talked to someone who told him he should be looking for three black males with backpacks and they had been seen running east, which he relayed on the radio to other officers. He said he started looking into cars that were broken into and didn’t find any.
He said two other officers had found a vehicle with four people in it – three males and a female – about 200 feet away from where he originally called them. The group had two large backpacks. He said the males were sweating profusely even though it was in the 60s and cool.
Hayes said he talked to the two males in the back seat. McIntyre, who Hayes said falsely identified himself at first, said he was there with the driver, but she didn’t know who he was.
Cummings told him that McIntyre was a friend of her boyfriend. Cummings said she was there to visit a friend in the apartment complex, but had no name, address, or phone number for the alleged friend. Her driver’s license was suspended, so she was taken into custody.
Then, the others were also taken into custody and the vehicle was searched. Hayes testified when they found an ID card in the backpack with a credit card with a name other than any of those in the car in a wallet, they put everything back in place and got a search warrant.
Under cross examination by Lemelin, Hayes said the car was backed into a parking spot, with the lights on inside the vehicle and the radio on, with the windows fogged up. Hayes said Cummings told her she drove to the location.
Attorney Johnson cross-examined Hayes and Hayes testified that the two large, black backpacks and a child’s backpack, too, were between McIntyre and McMullan in the back seat. Hayes said he didn’t know if the two knew what was in the backpacks.
Next witness was VBT Police Officer Michael Rini who also was on road patrol that night and came to the parked vehicle that others had located. He said a wallet with a white male’s identification with an address in Harbour Club was given to him and he went to contact the man. The man said he thought his wallet with the credit cards was inside his car, but Officer Rini told him he had the wallet. Rini said he dusted the man’s unlocked, undamaged car for fingerprints and didn’t find any.
Third witness was VBT Detective William Bettendorf, officer in charge of the case, who said the vehicle with the suspects was impounded and brought to the police department sally port. After they got the search warrant they searched the vehicle and found various items including a purse with a wallet with a woman’s identification that said an address in another community, but upon investigation they found the woman had moved to Harbour Club.
Det. Bettendorf said Det. Mike Long helped him search the car and Long logged in what was found. Under cross examination, Det. Bettendorf said there were other cards on the floor in the back, not in the backpack, but there were no names on them.
Although the three defense attorneys asked Judge Green to dismiss the charges because their clients were just sitting in a car together and there was no proof that Cummings drove the car, Judge Green bound them all over for trial.
Prosecutor Bernardi said the male defendants were definitely sweating profusely from having run to the car, and there is the evidence in the backpacks that were in the car.
Micaiah Carlin Minor
The preliminary exam for Micaiah Carlin Minor, 17, of Canton was reset by Judge Green to Nov. 6. The results of his independent competency hearing were not to be ready until Oct. 30, so Judge Green gave them another week to make sure it was ready.
Minor is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Van Buren Township resident John Robert McElreath, 64, on May 7 in Van Buren Township.
It is alleged that Minor, an unlicensed driver, was driving southbound on Belleville Road at a high rate of speed, when he disregarded a red light at Ecorse, crossed over the double-yellow line and drove into northbound traffic, striking the victim in his car. McElreath died from his injuries in the crash.
Minor is free on tether after posting $50,000/10% bond. His retained defense attorney is David Cripps.
Dale Leslie Raymond
Dale Leslie Raymond, II, 54, waived his preliminary exam on a charge of fleeing police in a vehicle in Van Buren Township on Aug. 29.
He is scheduled for an arraignment on the information at circuit court on Oct. 30. Raymond is free on $10,000 personal bond and his defense attorney is Neighborhood Defender Service.
Vetra Denice Pettway
Vetra Denice Pettway, 60, of Detroit waived her preliminary exam on charges of felonious assault, interfering with a crime report, and reckless driving in Sumpter Township on May 26.
She is scheduled to be at circuit court for an arraignment on the information on Oct. 30. Her defense attorney Grant Miller stipulated the competency evaluation found her able to stand trial. She is free on personal bond of $5,000.
Alicia Joy Williams
Alicia Joy Williams, 42, of Van Buren Township, waived her preliminary exam on a charge of possession of narcotics or cocaine less than 25 grams on June 10 in Van Buren Township. Judge Green bound her over to circuit court for an Oct. 30 arraignment on the information. She is free on $5,000 personal recognizance bond. Her court-appointed attorney is Robert Jurczyk.
Amealia Roseb Blackburn
Amealia Roseb Blackburn, 21, of Van Buren Township, waived her preliminary exam on a charge of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer in the City of Belleville on Aug. 21. Magistrate Lisa Martin bound her over to circuit court for an Oct. 23 arraignment on the information. She is lodged on bond of $20,000/10%.
Jonathan Sander Freed
Jonathan Sander Freed, 47, of Detroit, waived his preliminary exam on a charge of possession of narcotics or cocaine less than 25 grams in VBT on Aug. 2. Magistrate Martin bound him over to circuit court for an Oct. 30 arraignment on the information. He is free on personal recognizance bond of $5,000.
Tyler Bailey Hancock
Tyler Bailey Hancock, 22, of Belleville, is scheduled for an Oct. 30 preliminary exam in front of 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley. He is lodged in the Wayne County Jail on bond of $100,000/10% on four charges out of the City of Belleville and additional bond of $10,000/10% on two charges out of Sumpter Township.
The Belleville charges are dated Sept. 18 and are two counts of false report or threat of terrorism and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, with a penalty of 20 years or life. Reportedly he threatened to harm a female police officer and to shoot up the high school.
The Sumpter Township charges are dated Sept. 27 and are a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of using a computer to commit a crime, with a penalty of 20 years or life.
Sumpter police reported the joint investigation with Belleville was the result of several recent threats of violence made against both police departments and the Van Buren Public Schools through fake social media and email accounts allegedly created by Hancock.