Police: Fleeing shoplifting suspect dropped his drugs, returned

A Detroit man is charged in Ferndale after police say he stole two glass smoking pipes at a gas station store, assaulted employees, and was caught after he returned for drugs he dropped in the store.

Charles Hogan, 37, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, and a felony charge of possessing methamphetamine. He faces a preliminary examination in Ferndale 43rd District Court next week.

Police said an employee at the BP gas station store, 1321 E. Eight Mile Road called police about 8 p.m. Sept. 10.

The owner recognized Hogan from an earlier shoplifting incident that night, police said.

Police said the owner saw the suspect when he tried to put a glass pipe in his pocket.

“The owner confronted the suspect in the store and retrieved the glass pipe he was trying to conceal in his pocket,” said Ferndale police Officer Jill Mahlmeister. “The owner also found a second glass pipe already in the suspect’s pocket” that was recovered.

Mahlmeister said the pipes are valued at about $16 each and are commonly used to smoke methamphetamine.

“They are different from a crack or marijuana pipe, and are narrow with a bulb at the end,” she said.

Hogan punched the owner in the head as he was escorting the suspect out of the store.

During the struggle, the suspect dropped an eyeglasses case on the floor containing a small plastic bag with methamphetamine and two broken glass pipes, police said.

“Mr. Hogan left the store then returned a few minutes later,” Mahlmeister said. “He confronted another employee at the store who refused to turn over the case because he had looked inside it and was holding it for police.”

A field test later showed that the substance in the small baggie inside the case tested positive for methamphetamine.

The suspect punched the employee and again fled the store empty-handed, police said.

Officers were given a description of the suspect and found him nearby in the 1300 block of East Eight Mile Road.

“He matched the suspect description and admitted to being in the BP gas station store,” Mahlmeister said.

Police said they reviewed the store surveillance video and it showed that Hogan had dropped the eyeglass case with the contraband in it while he was in the store the first time.

The drug possession charge against Hogan is a 10-year felony.

At his arraignment, he was jailed on $1,500 bond. As of Thursday, the suspect is still being held at the Oakland County Jail.

Hogan’s criminal history includes convictions for possession of drugs in Detroit, larceny in Harper Woods, and uttering and publishing in Macomb County Circuit Court.

He is scheduled to return to Ferndale 43rd District Court at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 30 for his next hearing.