Man pulls out cocaine while trying to bail out friend

Clinton Township — Talk about being born under a bad sign.

Call it karma, but criminals have been having a pretty bad time of it in Clinton Township lately.

In the latest case, a 51-year-old Roseville man showed up at the police station Saturday afternoon to bail out a buddy who had been arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence.

“The bail was $300 and he presented three $100 bills to the station officer,” said Lt. Eric Reincke. “When he pulled out the cash, there was a small yellow baggie between the bills. When the officer asked what it was, the man replied ‘just garbage.’ ”

The officer noticed it looked like cocaine, which a field test confirmed.

Police arrested the man, whom they identified as Royal Norton, and also seized an undisclosed amount of cash from him.

Norton has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to police.

Quirky case No. 2 occurred when a man and a woman allegedly robbed a gas station on Harper between 15 Mile and 16 Mile last Tuesday.

“At about 6:30 a.m., a man walked into the station, said he had a gun and demanded all the money,” Reincke said. “He had his hand in his pocket and was acting like he was armed. The clerk complied and the suspect ran out with money and two cartons of cigarettes.”

He was picked up by a woman who was driving a Ford pickup with a cap on the back.

“They went westbound on Interstate 94,” Reincke said. “One of our officers spotted the truck stopped along the side of the road. He was joined by a Michigan State Police trooper, and they observed a man and woman running from the truck.”

Both were arrested after a short foot chase. In a delicious case of irony, the woman told officers they had run out of gas.

Roseville residents Vanessa Sexton, 37, and Mark Volke, 38, were charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

And finally on Jan. 30, a dim desperado tried to make off with $500 worth of headphones from a video game store on Gratiot just south of 15 Mile.

“The suspect went into the store and purchased a refurbished game system,” Reincke said. “When the clerk went to retrieve it from a back room, the suspect stole two sets of headphones and ran from the business.”

Police found their suspect fuming behind the wheel of a car that wouldn’t start. They identified him as Michael Montgomery, 46, of Detroit.

“He has been charged with retail fraud, first-degree,” Reincke said. “He has 15 prior convictions for retail fraud first or second degree.”

tgreenwood@detroitnews.com

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