Testimony wraps up in preliminary hearing about Romulus police corruption case

ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) - On the last day of the preliminary hearing of five Romulus detectives, the former Romulus police chief and his wife, two witnesses appeared in court.

Romulus Police Captain Derran Shelby was the first to take the stand. He testified Ex-Chief Michael St. Andre kept drug forfeiture funds stashed in a safe.

Seven defendants including the former chief, his wife Sandra Vlaz-St. Andre, along with Detective Jeremy Channells, Detective Richard Landry, Detective Donald Hoskins, Detective Larry Droege, and Detective Sergeant Richard Balzer are accused of misusing more than $100,000 in forfeiture funds from 2006 to 2011.

St. Andre and five detectives face a variety of charges, from embezzlement to misconduct in office. Some are accused of using drug forfeiture money on prostitutes, marijuana and alcohol.

Vlaz-St. Andre is accused of using forfeiture funds to open her tanning salon.

The last witness to take the stand was the current Romulus Police Chief Robert Dickerson. He told the court, once he took his new position a secretary reported some missing receipts to him.

During his brief testimony, he stated when he opened the safe there was only $147 inside.

The prosecution will soon have forty-five days to file a brief in support to bind all the defendants over for court.

The defense attorneys will have forty-five days to argue against that.

After a rebuttal from the prosecution, both sides will appear in court for an oral argument. A decision as to whether the seven defendants will go to trial will happen after that.