Man charged in attempted Royal Oak home invasion

A 72-year-old Pontiac man has been charged in an attempted home invasion in Royal Oak, police said.

The incident took place at about 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday, when a Royal Oak resident in the 700 block of Lockwood, south of Catalpa and east of Woodward, called to report that a man took the screen off a back window to her home, but fled once he saw her.

Royal Oak police arrived and found the man, identified as Vernon Lee Shepard, hiding behind a building blocks from the scene.

Shepard is charged with one count of attempted first-degree home invasion. Shepard is a parolee who has done time in the past for home invasion and armed robbery, prison records show. 

At his arraignment Thursday, Shepard was given a 10 percent cash surety bond of $50,000. He's due back in court on Feb. 2 at 8:30 a.m. for a probable cause conference before Judge Derek Meinecke at the 44th District Court in Royal Oak. 

In July 2005, Shepard was given a prison sentence of 10 to 30 years for first-degree home invasion. Shepard was paroled from prison in May 2016, records show, and was scheduled to get off parole on May 24, 2018.