Homeowner: Get Tough on Crime or It Will Escalate

Ted Schapekis was lying in his bed, sleeping lightly about 5:15 a.m. the morning of Aug. 17, when he heard the garage door of his Northville Township home open.

Schapekis wasn’t alarmed. His adult daughters, ages 19 and 22, often work out at a nearby 24-hour fitness center at all hours of the night and early morning.

“I waited to see if a car was started,” he said.

No engine turned over, so Schapekis slipped into a bathroom to look out a window that overlooks his home in the Northville Hills subdivision.

The garage door was open and light was spilling onto the driveway. He saw a shadowy figure, and investigated further.

“Get Out!”

When he opened the door that leads to the garage and saw a young man standing in the back corner, eyeing a set of golf clubs. The intruder didn’t see him.

“Hey!” Schapekis said he yelled. “Get out of here!”

Startled, the suspect, later identified as Alex Thompson, ran away.

Northville Township police caught up with Thompson when he allegedly tried to fence other stolen golf clubs at a Play It Again Sports business in Canton.

Police had been working with the store owner and other similar businesses in the vicinity after a rash of golf club thefts over the summer, Detective Sgt. Paul Tennies told Patch.

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The store owner stalled, saying he would need some time to determine the value of the clubs. In the meantime, he alerted authorities. When Thompson allegedly returned to finalize the deal, police were waiting.

Charges against Thompson include one count of first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony, and one charge of breaking and entering, a misdemeanor. More charges may be forthcoming after Thompson’s appearance at his probable cause conference Friday in a Wayne County court.

“Absolutely You Feel Violated”

Schapekis and his wife, Linda, live in a golf community, and several of their neighbors have experienced golf club thefts over the summer. Homeowners’ association meetings are rife with stories of break-ins and burglaries, Schapekis said.

Tennies said Northville Township police have easily investigated 20 golf club thefts this summer. Thompson is a suspect in many of them, the detective said.

Schapekis said the home invasion, though not violent, left him and his family feeling violated.

“Absolutely you feel violated,” he said. “There’s one place in this world I can go and retreat and do whatever I want, and nobody can enter the space. When somebody does that, it’s a violating feeling: How dare you? What in God’s green Earth gives you the right to come into my space, for the purpose of taking my stuff?”

Schapekis said he’s rattled by what could have happened in his safe neighborhood, where home values range from about $400,000 to more than $1 million. He said he’s luckier than some of his neighbors, who have encountered an intruder in their living quarters, not just in their garages.

“He did come at me,” Schapekis said. “He was walking toward me. He’s a scrawny little kid – I’m not a big guy, either, only five-eight – but I felt he was contemplating whether he had a confrontation going, or if he should just get out of there. I yelled at him, and he took the suggestion.

“It does disturb us when we have incidences of not just burglaries or thefts, but are confronted by people,” the homeowner said. “There’s a propensity there for it to become a violent crime.”

How to Protect Yourself

Tennies said Northville Township isn’t any more prone to crime than other nearby suburbs. High-value items are generally associated with more expensive homes.

“Crime is everywhere, and everyone has to be diligent,” he said.

Schapekis wasn’t looking for a confrontation, but was merely investigating when he spotted the intruder, Tennies said.

Even so, the detective said, confronting an intruder can have disastrous results. He advised calling 911 instead.

“Most of these incidents are crimes of opportunity,” he said. “We’re usually not dealing with a situation where force is used to gain entry.”

Tennies advised homeowners to make sure their homes, side entries and garage doors are closed and locked. If vehicles equipped with garage door openers are left outside, make sure that cars are locked and that high-valued items are removed, or at least stashed out of sight, he said.

Schapekis hopes Thompson is convicted and gets prison time.

“If you’re not tough (on crime), it’s just going to continue,” Schapekis said. “I’m not saying be like Saudi Arabia and cut off their hands. I’m not out for revenge.

“I’m just doing my little part to make society better, he said. “If I can protect one more homeowner from this little punk, and if everyone else did their part, maybe there would be less crime.”

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