Saline police say suspected thief had women's purses and dozens of gift cards in his car
An Ypsilanti man suspected of using a debit card stolen from a vehicle outside the Saline Recreation Center last week is accused of committing similar crimes across the state, police said.
Todd Foddrill, 34, was wanted on four bench warrants for larceny and fraud in multiple jurisdictions in Kent County when officers from the Saline and Ann Arbor police departments caught him in an Ann Arbor parking lot on Sept. 15, reports show.
Todd Foddrill
He has not been charged with any local crimes, but the ongoing investigation has placed him in the center of a crime spree over the past few weeks, authorities say.
Saline Detective Don Lupi said officers found two purses in his vehicle, including one that was later identified as stolen from a car parked at the recreation center Sept. 13. They also found about three dozen gift cards from various stores and restaurants inside his vehicle, along with suspected marijuana and prescription drugs, Lupi said.
Foddrill did not give a statement to police, but investigators traced the gift cards and determined some of them were purchased with a debit card belonging to the owner of one of the recovered purses, reports said. Nearly $500 worth of store gift cards and other items were purchased after the vehicle break-in, reports show.
Other cards, usually in denominations of $50 or $100, were traced back to purchases made in the Grand Rapids area over several weeks. Further details about those cases were not immediately available.
Lupi said investigators in other communities believe Foddrill could be linked to multiple vehicle larcenies in their jurisdictions. Lupi said he also has not ruled out Foddrill’s involvement in several unsolved vehicle break-ins that occurred in the recreation center’s parking lot earlier this year and last fall.
Reports indicate Foddrill was discovered after he repeatedly used one of the fraudulently-purchased gift cards at an Ann Arbor restaurant where he was spotted earlier Wednesday night. No further details were released.
Foddrill was detained at the Washtenaw County Jail pending transfer to west Michigan to face the warrant charges.
State prison records show Foddrill has several convictions in Washtenaw and Wayne counties for stealing financial transaction devices. He also was convicted of attempting to disarm a police officer in Washtenaw County in 2003, records show.
Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 723-623-2530.
Comments
Westside Patty
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 9 p.m.
Wow! I've heard of blaming the victim, but now some want to blame and fine the victim! Maybe I shouldn't wear my wedding ring in public anymore. I'd hate to have it stolen from me, and then have to pay a fine for "creating an opportunity"!
krc
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 10:46 a.m.
@stunhsif: Don't forget thay the prisoners also occupy their time by giving each other those beautifully wrought professional tatoos.
stunhsif
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 8:25 a.m.
Good one Jeffery. So now this guy will get convicted and we all get to pay to put him away for a number of years in a country club prison. We need to give criminals a good reason to not be criminals. As it stands now, we have people commiting crimes to get back into prison. I suggest we take these criminals and put them to work tearing down vacant properties, filling pot holes in streets etc. As it stands now, we pay them to sit around and watch TV, work out in the weight room and get three nice squares a day. And then we have to pay people to babysit them all day long. This is NUTS, put em to work!
Killroy
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 8:05 a.m.
@ Greggy_D, if you left a 10k on your front porch and someone took it that would be called Social Darwinism because you did not have the foresight nor the intellect to lock away your booty.
actionjackson
Wed, Sep 22, 2010 : 7:32 a.m.
Saline Detective Don Lupi said officers found two purses in his vehicle, including one that was later identified as stolen from a car parked at the recreation center Sept. 13. They also found about three dozen gift cards from various stores and restaurants inside his vehicle, along with suspected marijuana and prescription drugs, Lupi said This paragraph sounds like Don had stlolen property in his vehicle along with drugs?
20/20
Tue, Sep 21, 2010 : 11:42 p.m.
so much for free speech, ref: Big Brother removing a specific punishment comment. I think we can handle it.
Gorc
Tue, Sep 21, 2010 : 7:58 p.m.
Does anyone know what happens to a theif in other countries....say for example Saudia Arabia?
Elaine F. Owsley
Tue, Sep 21, 2010 : 7:43 p.m.
Greggy, you are over-reacting. Simple safety measures for ones personal property should be the goal in this case. How many reports of thefts from un-locked cars and purses, ipods, cell phones, whatever, left where thieves can easily get them do we have to read to get the point? You aren't in Kansas anymore.
Greggy_D
Tue, Sep 21, 2010 : 7:32 p.m.
So Elaine...I guess any woman who wears a short skirt deserves to be raped because she created an "opportunity"? Give me a break. I could leave $10,000 on my front porch but that still does not give anyone the right to steal my personal property. The thief is to blame, period.
Elaine F. Owsley
Tue, Sep 21, 2010 : 4:37 p.m.
Where people create opportunities, there will always be "opportunistic" thieves. Leaving a purse in the car, along with things like failure to lock one's car makes it easy for this kind of crime. There should be a penalty for creating the opportunity that helps pay for the police time following up on "victim" participation in it.