A 22-year-old Oxford man accused of burglarizing three Oxford Twp. homes within a week to help finance his alleged drug habit was arrested March 15 by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
Alan Pratt, Jr. was arraigned Monday afternoon in Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court on one count of first-degree home invasion and two counts of second-degree home invasion.
If convicted of these felonies, he faces up to 20 years in prison on the first-degree charge and up to 15 years of jail time for each of the second-degree charges. He’s currently being held at the Oakland County Jail in lieu of posting 10 percent of a $75,000 bond.
Pratt allegedly broke into three homes, one of which was occupied at the time, along High Pointe Drive in the Twin Lakes Estates subdivision, off Stanton Rd., between March 8 and March 14.
‘He was just forcing open doors,? said Sheriff’s Det. Jason Louwaert, who works out of the Oxford Twp. substation.
Pratt allegedly stole some jewelry, two laptop computers, some women’s purses and camera equipment.
Louwaert said Pratt confessed to all three burglaries and indicated he perpetrated them in order ‘to fund his drug habit.?
‘He claimed to be (working) alone,? the detective noted.
Louwaert said all three burglaries took place at night.
The homeowners were asleep during one of the robberies, which is why Pratt was charged with first-degree home invasion in that case, he explained. No one was home during the other two burglaries.
Pratt’s arrest resulted from a tip the sheriff’s department received indicating he allegedly had stolen property at the home where he was staying. The tip included Pratt’s whereabouts, which allowed the sheriff’s Fugitive Apprehension Team and Oxford investigators to arrest him for an outstanding felony warrant related to a January burglary in neighboring Brandon Township.
‘He was a suspect in a home invasion over there,? Louwaert explained. ‘They issued a warrant for receiving and concealing stolen property.?
After he was taken into custody, sheriff’s investigators searched the residence and found stolen property from the Oxford homes, according to Louwaert.
Louwaert noted that Pratt confessed to the Brandon home invasion as well, so additional charges are expected. He was arraigned Saturday on the stolen property charge out of Brandon. Bond for that charge was set at 10 percent of $12,500.
And that’s not the end of it.
‘He’s admitted to participating in other home invasions in the area,? the detective said. ‘We have recovered other property that we believe is stolen, but we haven’t been able to find the owners. We can’t match (the items) up with any reports that have been made at this time. So, there is some property here that hasn’t been claimed.?
Louwaert believes some of this property may belong to folks who were burglarized while they were either away on vacation or out of town for the winter season. ‘They may not have discovered this yet,? he said. ‘We’d like to get their property back to them.?
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be forthcoming.
As always, Louwaert urged anyone with information regarding these crimes or the stolen property to contact him at (248) 969-0369.