Crime & Safety

3 Suspected in Target Theft Ring Arrested in Utica

The following arrest information was supplied by the Utica Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

Utica police arrested three people Sunday suspected of stealing jewelry from several area Target department stores.

Police said a 40-year-old Waterford man waived his Miranda rights and admitted to police that he was paid in drugs by a 27-year-old Pontiac woman and a 31-year-old Rochester Hills man to drive them to area Target stores so they could steal jewelry.

All three suspects were booked at the Utica police station. The woman was charged with second-degree retail fraud and released on bond. The two men were charged with first-degree retail fraud and will be turned over to Oakland County to face charges there.

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The trio is suspected of stealing from Target stores in Rochester Hills, Sterling Height and Howell.

A Utica police officer patrolling the Target parking lot Sunday noticed the suspect’s vehicle, which was reported by several police agencies to have been involved in other Target thefts, and notified the loss prevention department.

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While a Utica police officer located all three suspects outside, two witnesses told the officer they saw the woman in his custody throw a bag under the car parked next to hers, according to a report.

The officer said he found stolen jewelry inside the bag, a burnt spoon and hypodermic needles. He also located several methadone pills in the suspect’s car.

Both of the men were arrested for violating probation on other retail fraud charges.

The woman had no prior criminal history.


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