Court Hearing Set for Man Accused of Bike Theft from Kmart Display

A Pontiac man with a lengthy criminal history is expected back in court this week to face charges of stealing a bicycle outside the Bloomfield Township Kmart.

Jessie James Reed, 61, is scheduled to appear Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court for a pretrial hearing on one count of first-degree retail fraud before Circuit Judge Phyllis McMillen.

Records show he formally waived his right to a preliminary hearing in 48th District Court this month on the felony charge.

Bloomfield Township police arrested him and another man on a pair of stolen bicycles in a neighborhood near the store off of Telegraph Road shortly after noon Aug. 13, reports said. According to Lt. Phil Langmeyer, it was the second time Reed appeared at the store and stole a bicycle that was staged for sale near the store’s entrance.

The first theft had been reported about an hour earlier by store employees who said a man pulled up to the front curb in a full-size van, sized up the bicycles on display and loaded one into the van, according to a police report.

The report said the employees recognized Reed as the suspect when he returned with another man. Police said they have identified the man and that he will face similar charges, but officers had not located him as of last week. 

Reed received a $25,000 bond at arraignment this month but remains in the Oakland County Jail on a Michigan Department of Corrections detainer for violating conditions of parole.

He was released from prison April 12 after serving nearly three years of a two- to 20-year sentence for first-degree home invasion, prison records show. Reed's criminal history includes four other convictions for property crimes dating back to 2002, records show. He has used more than a dozen aliases and was scheduled to be on supervised release until April 2013.

Prosecutors indicated that if Reed is convicted, they would seek a sentence enhancement based on his prior record.

Reed’s court-appointed attorney, Michael McCarthy, declined comment Monday.