Cops: Nephew, 17, steals safe from uncle’s home
A 17-year-old Pontiac resident is under arrest after a large safe reported stolen from his uncle’s Commerce Township home was found at his dwelling in Pontiac early Sunday.
The 911 call about the alleged theft came in about 3:50 a.m. on Sunday.
A 55-year-old Commerce Township man reported that his safe had been stolen from his home on the 5000 block of Garthby, which is south of Cooley Lake Road and just west of Union Lake Golf Course. The victim told police he kept a large safe in his bedroom closet, but that it was missing, and immediately pointed the finger at his nephew and his nephew’s friends, giving police an address where they could locate him.
The victim told police that the safe was so large that at least two people would be needed to carry it out, and that it had cash and sentimental items inside. The victim told police that his nephew has a drug problem.
It was in Pontiac that sheriff’s deputies ultimately found the safe and made the arrest.
Using the address that the victim gave police, deputy sheriffs arrived on the 700 block of Whittemore in Pontiac, which is about a half-hour drive away from the scene of the crime. There, police met three people, two males and one woman, who gave consent to search the home.
That search turned up the safe, unopened. While all three of the young people — a 17-year-old male, a 19-year-old woman, and a 20-year-old man — were arrested initially, police eventually released the 19 and 20-year-old.
The 17-year-old nephew of the victim remains in custody at the Oakland County Jail in Pontiac, pending charges.