2 Arrested in Thefts from Vehicles in Royal Oak

Royal Oak Police have arrested two people in connection with thefts from vehicles in the city after a 911 call and a middle-of-the-night chase through neighborhood yards.

John Sidney Freleigh, 20, of New Haven was arraigned this morning in on two charges of larceny from a vehicle, each a five-year felony. Bond was set at $5,000 or cash/surety. He was being held in Royal Oak Police lockup as of Wednesday afternoon, Royal Oak Police Lt. Thomas Goad said. Pre-exam trial was set for Friday.

The second arrested suspect is a 16-year-old from New Haven. He was not in Royal Oak custody, Goad said, but he would not release any other information regarding his identity or charges at this time.

At 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, a resident of the 1400 block of Bauman Avenue placed a 911 call to the Royal Oak Police Department to report that two males had just stolen two cell phones from his unlocked vehicle, Royal Oak Police said. The resident said he confronted the suspects and retrieved his cell phones. The suspects then fled on foot.

Royal Oak officers quickly responded to the area along with officers from Troy and Madison Heights.

The responding officers observed the two suspects run across Donald Street and into the backyards there. The officers intercepted the suspects and were able to take the first suspect into custody while the second suspect continued fleeing on foot, police said. A Troy K-9 arrived on the scene and flushed the suspect out of hiding and into another backyard. A Royal Oak officer heard the suspect move to the new location and was able to apprehend him, police said.

The officers located a backpack that the Bauman Avenue resident said he saw one of the suspects carrying. The backpack contained stolen property from other cars that had been broken into in the area. Some of the items recovered were a portable GPS unit, cell phones, cell phone accessories and an undisclosed amount of money.

Royal Oak's Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the number of larcenies that may be attributed to these suspects.

"There's been a rash of (thefts from vehicles) throughout the city of Royal Oak,"  Goad said.

Goad couldn't immediately say exactly how many vehicle break-in reports police have received in recent weeks. "There's just a tremendous amount we get," he said.

While thieves often target unlocked vehicles and those with their windows rolled down, "a lot of cars are getting their windows smashed, too," Goad said.

"They've been at businesses, , Northwood (Shopping Center) and residential."