Two Oakland County Sheriff’s detectives recently took a bite out of crime while eating lunch and now a 17-year-old Addison resident is facing multiple felony charges.
Jacob Devereaux was arraigned Friday in Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court on charges of first-degree home invasion (a 20-year felony), unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle (a five-year felony) and larceny from a vehicle (a five-year felony).
Devereaux was released from Oakland County Jail after posting 10 percent of a $15,000 bond.
The young man is accused of breaking into the garage of a Rochester Hills home and stealing a 2008 Saturn (with the keys still in the ignition) sometime overnight between Nov. 24 and 25.
To get into the garage, Devereaux allegedly entered an unlocked car parked in the driveway and used the garage door remote he found inside.
Det. Lt. Ray White, of the Rochester Hills sheriff’s substation, said Devereaux attends Oakland University, but recently became homeless.
‘Apparently, he was (living) at either an apartment or a dorm on the campus and they had a party there that was way too rowdy,? White explained. ‘As a result, they were removed. That’s why he was homeless.?
The suspect had previously entered other unlocked vehicles to stay warm during the night, according to White
The vehicle Devereaux allegedly stole was found Dec. 1 in Memphis, a community in St. Clair County. While searching the recovered car, members of the sheriff’s Auto Theft Unit discovered a receipt from a Rite Aid store on Walton Blvd. in Rochester Hills.
They viewed a surveillance video of the person (Devereaux) who made the purchase but didn’t recognize him, so they distributed copies to local officers.
As luck would have it, two plainclothes sheriff’s detectives were eating lunch at a restaurant on Walton Blvd. at Adams Rd. when they spotted Devereaux and noticed he resembled the young man in the video. He was even wearing the same clothes.
Detectives from the Auto Theft Unit were called and Devereaux was taken into custody.
The moral of the story ? don’t eat where cops eat or you could end up eating baloney sandwiches in the county jail.
? Editor C.J. Carnacchio