Sumpter Police arraign second suspect in Ace Hardware theft

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Two chainsaws, worth about $600 each, were stolen by two men from the Ace Hardware store in Sumpter Township during business hours on Oct. 12, 2010.
Then, the next day, at about the same time, two men returned and tried to do it again, but the hardware store owners had chained down the saws this time and the thieves were unsuccessful.
Over the past three years, one suspect was arrested and adjudicated and last week the second suspect was in court.
On Dec. 18, Jackie Vasher, 29, stood before 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley for his preliminary exam on a charge of first-degree retail fraud. He waived his preliminary exam and was bound over to circuit court in Detroit for an arraignment on the information on Dec. 27 with court-appointed attorney David Lankford.
Vasher was in custody on $10,000/10% bond and Judge Oakley granted him personal bond with a GIS tether.
Judge Oakley pointed out the record shows Vasher also has a Sept. 10 violation for speeding and no proof of insurance.
At the time of the theft in 2010 surveillance photos taken by Ace’s cameras were very clear and the Independent published them hoping to help police get a lead.
Sumpter Township Police Detective John Toth said he believes Vasher left the state after the 2010 theft and possibly went to prison.
Detective Toth said the week before his court appearance Sumpter Police had Vasher in custody and he feigned an attack of appendicitis. Police took him to urgent care, where the doctor confirmed it was appendicitis and sent him on to a hospital.
The hospital didn’t agree with the diagnosis, but operated and took out Vasher’s appendix, Det. Toth said.
After surgery, “He ripped out all this tubes and went running,” Det. Toth said, noting Plymouth Police then arrested him.
Toth said Vasher has been stealing all over the place and has two more cases pending in Plymouth, one from 2010 for first-degree retail fraud and one from Dec. 6 for first-degree retail fraud, larceny in a building, and organized retail crime.
Vasher was labeled an habitual offender in 2010.
A woman seen in the car during the Sumpter theft was never found, Toth said.