Purebred Bulldog Puppies Stolen; Woman Hurt in Robbery; Copper Pipes Taken

officers reported to 62 alarms, 28 crashes and 20 arrests Oct. 25-Nov. 1. Despite a calm Halloween holiday — zero crashes and one arrest — West Bloomfield police reported to the following highlights:

Purebred English Bulldog puppies stolen

Three English Bulldog puppies were stolen from a breeder who lives and works at the 7800 block of Sunset Lane, according to Police Lt. Tim Diamond. The crime, which occurred and reported Oct. 29, was captured on surveillance cameras placed on a backyard shed where the puppies were kept.

Surveillance footage shows two men walking the fence separating the breeder's backyard from the golf course, which shares a border, Diamond said. On the footage, the men are seen to disappear at some point, presumably into the shed, and then leave with something in their arms, presumably the three puppies, Diamond said.

The puppies were in the process of being sold for $2,500 apiece.

Diamond said that police are investigating for suspects.

Rash of larcenies of copper piping reported

Eight different incidents of breaking and entering and larceny of copper pipes ranging from $30-$45,000 in losses were reported in the township last week, Diamond said. The reports are spread throughout the week, with no more than two incidents reported on any one day.

Diamond said the police department has been working with investigative and surveillance units to find out who is involved and how they're working.

All of the incidents involve single-family unoccupied residences and most of the homes are in foreclosure, Diamond said.

"It's a crime rash," he said. "We don't know how people are targeting these houses ... it has to be someone who knows something about real estate or someone who’s in real estate and giving them information, because it seems too bizarre that they’re just riding down streets and finding homes that are unoccupied, because not all of the them have signs on the lawn saying so."

Woman hurt in armed robbery at Halloween City

A man struck an employee leaving Halloween City at 7300 Haggerty Rd. around 11:20 p.m. Oct. 27 and stole the cash box from the evening, estimated to hold $4,500, according to Diamond.

The man — described as in his late 30s to early 40s, wearing dark-colored clothing — was wearing a clown mask and carrying an aluminum bat when he approached three female employees leaving the store for the night in the parking lot.

The women tried to flee in different directions, Diamond said. One of them was caught by the man, who threw her to the ground and struck her with the bat, above her eye. Diamond said the man then left her on the ground and grabbed the cash box from another employee before fleeing into an alley at the east border of the store.

The West Bloomfield Fire Department reported to treat the woman's eye injury and did not transport her to the hospital. Diamond said the suspect remains at large and no surveillance footage is available.

"The theory is that he had someone waiting in a car in the alley behind those businesses, because we had a K-9 (unit) go and they tracked it to that point where he probably got into a car and that's the end of the track," Diamond said.

Diamond said West Bloomfield police are working with the Roseville Police Department to investigate a similar crime at a Halloween City store there that same night. 

"We don't know if it's the same people involved yet, but they're similar crimes and the one in Roseville happened not too long after this one," Diamond said.

If you have any questions about this report, email Tim.Rath@Patch.com.