Phones stolen in two muggings Saturday

By Mark Tower
May. 10, 2010    ·    1:02 a.m.

Two more strong-arm robberies were reported to Ypsilanti Police Saturday, both of which resulted in the victim's cell phone being stolen.

Ypsilanti Police Sgt. Deric Gress said one of the incidents are no longer being considered connected to similar strong-arm robberies reported Friday. The victim of Saturday's first robbery was shown pictures of suspects in earlier robberies, Gress said, and did not identify any as the men who robbed him.

“They don't appear to be related,” he said.

Ypsilanti Police are still looking for other suspects in the crime, he said.

According to a press release from the Ypsilanti Police Department, a 24-year-old Ypsilanti man was robbed at 6:45 p.m. Saturday near a party store on the 900 block of West Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti.

The victim, who had just given blood across the street at the local plasma center, was headed to the party store to cash the check when, as he told police, two men approached him to talk, one punched him and took his cell phone, and they both got into a black car and sped away.

Police said the victim's only injury, an injured middle finger, was not serious, and he was able to cash the check at the party store before reporting the incident to the police.

The two suspects in the robbery are described by YPD as black males in their mid-20s, one about 6' tall, 150-170 lbs., wearing a black sweater and dark jeans, and the other about 5'9” tall, 140-160 lbs., wearing a red sweater and dark jeans.

The identity of these two suspects remains unknown, police said. The victim looked through some photos but did not identify any suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call Ypsilanti Police at 734-483-9510.

The second strong arm robbery Saturday was originally reported as a fight between six or seven teenagers at 11:31 p.m. near the intersection of Second and West Michigan avenues.

Officers said they made contact with a young woman near the intersection of Orchard and Franklin streets, very close to the reported scene of the fight, who told them she had been jumped by several teenagers who had pulled up in a purple van and they had stolen her cell phone.

The juvenile victim and her friends were uncooperative with police, according to a report from the YPD. Suspects have been identified but not named by Ypsilanti Police, who say an investigation into the robbery is ongoing.

Home break-in
The resident of a home on the 600 block of Armstrong Dr. in Ypsilanti told police at 10:51 p.m. Saturday that her house had been broken into.

Ypsilanti Police officers reported that the home had been ransacked at a laptop was reported stolen. A possible point of entry has been identified as an unlocked front window.

No suspects have yet been identified by YPD.

Car stolen
The owner of a 1992 Chevrolet Caprice told police at 2:30 p.m. Saturday that the car was stolen some time in the morning from where it was parked on the 1100 block of Cornell near Eastern Michigan University's Cornell Courts apartments.

The owner told Ypsilanti Police that the car, which has 24-inch chrome rims and license plate number CBR 9104, may have had the keys inside the vehicle when it was stolen.

Vehicle broken into
Ypsilanti Police officers responded to the report of a vehicle that had been broken into at 4:50 p.m. Saturday on the 900 block of Railroad Street in Ypsilanti, near Peninsular Place apartments.

An IPod was reported stolen out of the vehicle after it was broken into, and YPD said there were no witnesses to the crime and no suspects have yet been identified.

Related article:
Two victims jumped, robbed in strong-arm robberies