A rash of burglaries was at least partially solved early this week when police arrested two individuals in separate, but similar, crimes aimed at businesses in Independence and Springfield townships.
Brian Douglas Sommers, 42, of Waterford was arraigned on charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools Monday in 52-2 District Court after he was connected to a break-in that occurred at Mel’s Grill 2, located at the corner of Andersonville and White Lake Road.
Sommers, who was picked up by Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies in Springfield Township in an unrelated incident March 6, was on probation for a previous burglary and driving on a suspended license.
He is currently held at Oakland County Jail on $100,000 bond.
The March 2 incident at Mel’s Grill 2 was reported when an Oakland Press driver arrived at the location around 4 a.m. and noticed a smashed front window at the restaurant.
A softball-sized rock, still on the floor when police arrived, was used to break the glass.
Survellience video shows a man clad in a dark hoodie, light gloves and a ball cap’the same items that would later be found in Sommers? car’walking along the restaurant’s north side about 3:23 a.m. before throwing a rock through a 3-foot-by-four-foot front window.
Once inside, the man triggered a motion light, but continued to rummage through the restaurant. In addition to what owner Joseph O’Hearn described as a ‘significant? amount of cash, another $20 was swiped from fundraiser bottle left near the cash resister.
According to reports, Sommers was carrying a sledgehammer, metal pry tool, two-way walkie-talkies, and a crack pipe in the vehicle when he was picked up by Springfield Township deputies.
The break-in at Mel’s Grill 2 is the second to occur since O’Hearn bought the business in July. The previous owner, he noted, also experienced a burglary.
‘It’s a little disheartening,? said O’Hearn, 25, a 2001 Clarkston High School graduate. ‘I’ve put a lot of time’a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the business, and things like this can mess with your peace of mind for a while.?
But O’Hearn said he’s changed his habits and no longer leaves any money in the restaurant overnight, inconvenient or not.
Otherwise, it’s back to business as usual.
‘You have to get over it and remember there’s a lot of good in the world,? he said. ‘We can’t just focus on the bad things that happen; it’s disheartening, but we’re moving forward.?
In addition to the Independence Township burglary, Sommers was turned over to Waterford Police for questioning. According to Sgt. Rick Lemos, Sommers confessed to a similar incident that took place Feb. 28 at the Big Boy restaurant on Cooley Lake Road in Waterford.
Still, Sommers alleged activity only accounts for a portion of recent break-ins.
In what appeared to be an unrelated incident, a Springfield Township deputy patrolling overnight near Dixie Highway and Davisburg Road March 10 discovered that plywood covering a broken window from a previous break-in attempt at was missing.
The deputy checked the building and found an unlocked rear door and a cash drawer lying unopened behind the dumpster.
Deputies cleared the scene, but kept watch over the area and the cash drawer until about 3:30 a.m., when a subject ran through the parking lot in an apparent attempt to retrieve the cash drawer.
Springfield and Independence Township deputies located two other suspects who were waiting in a vehicle nearby, and questioned all three.
The two bystanders, who appear to have been called by the suspect after the fact, were released.
The suspect caught attempting to retrieve the cash drawer, however, allegedly confessed to the crime, and also admitted responsibility for two recent burglaries of the same nature at the Independence Township Subway on Dixie Highway near M-15.
According to Detective Tim Hein of the OCSO Independence Township substation, the 21-year-old Waterford man is a former employee of the restaurant and had been suspected in three separate incidents of burglary involving a smashed-out window at the Independence Township Subway.
The man, whose name was not immediately released pending arraignment, may have committed the crimes in retaliation for a perceived injustice during his employment, police said.
In addition to the burglaries at Mel’s Grill 2 and Subway, police are also working on similar unsolved break-ins at Brioni Caf? and Deli; Sun Cleaners; Mr. Gs Hair Care Center; La Bella Salon; and a third incident at the Subway on Dixie Highway.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Oakland County Sheriff’s hotline at 1-888-TURN-1-IN (1-888-887-6146).