After a rash of Home Invasions that took place within Denton Subdivision from November 2011 to the most recent on April 2012, Van Buren Township investigators assisted Federal Officials in obtaining gun charges in this crime spree.
VBT Police Captain Gregory Laurain issued a press release on Tuesday that reported after countless hours of surveillance and investigating tips, investigators put together five cases after the apprehension of persons of interest that S.I.U. (Special Investigative Officers) had been watching and believed to be involved in the break-ins.
These two individuals were charged on a local level with Receiving and Concealing Stolen Property and not with Home Invasion.
S.I.U. has since been working the cases in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit and on June 26, 2012 Thomas Johnson and Sheldon Brummette were both indicted by a federal Grand Jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Johnson and Brummette were both charged with a violation of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 022(g) (1), 924(e) – Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The firearm in question was one of the firearms stolen from a residence on Old Michigan Ave. and is tied to the rash of home invasions in the Denton Subdivision.
S.I.U. served the Federal arrest warrants on Johnson and Brummette on July 2. Johnson was arrested at his parents’ home in Canton and Brummette was arrested at his girlfriend’s apartment in Superior Township.
Johnson missed his court date on July 5 because he was in the custody of the U.S. Marshall Service on the current Federal charge.
Johnson and Brummette had a detention hearing on Tuesday July 10, at 1 p.m.
Captain Laurain said is expected that Johnson and Brummette will both be detained as they have extensive criminal histories and they are both looking at 15 years in the Federal system.