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Sterling Heights police catch porch pirates in the act, take man and woman into custody

Posted at 5:36 PM, Jan 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-02 17:36:56-05

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Police say they have nabbed porch pirates they caught in the act.

The first time on December 18th at a home in the area of Schoenherr and 19 Mile roads.

The second time, undercover police officers say they watched the two commit a crime at a home near Dobry and Waldo

In the December incident, police say the suspects were in a white van when one of them walked up to the porch and grabbed a package. Once police were able to identify the white van, undercover officers began running surveillance on a man and woman, following them for days until they struck again.

Wednesday night, officers says they followed the two they stopped at a home under construction with their garage door open.

Sterling Heights Police Sgt. Aaron Susalla said, “Went in there and grabbed the box out of the garage and then they loaded it up to their van and took off.”

That’s when police followed them and arrested a 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman.

“He’s claiming ignorance as to why they were being stopped.”

Sterling Heights Police say using hours and hours of undercover resources sends a strong message to criminals.

“They’ll see this and know that Sterling Heights has these resources that we put into our community, so if they do come here and do these crimes they will get caught.”

The man and woman are now facing larceny charges and are expected to be arraigned Friday.

In the meantime, police are working to see if they are responsible for other porch pirate incidents in the area.