2 Ferndale Residents Charged in Auto, Bicycle Thefts

FERNDALE, MI — Two people were arrested on felony charges in Ferndale Sunday after their roommate tipped off authorities about a stolen vehicle that had been parked in their garage, police said. Two bicycles that had just been reported stolen by another resident were also found in the garage.

Richard Wayne Hart, 31, and Shelby Lynn Higdon, 28, each face charges of breaking and entering, a 10-year felony, and unauthorized driving away of a vehicle, a five-year felony. Hart also is charged with stealing/retaining a financial transaction device, a four-year felony, according to the news release from the Ferndale Police Department.

Ferndale Police Det. Lt. William J. Wilson said the pair’s roommate called police to report they had “just stashed a freshly stolen car” in the shared garage in the home they rented on Leroy Street.

The caller said he asked the pair about the vehicle, a Ford Taurus, “and Hart told them had just stolen it,” Wilson said.

When police arrived, they found not only the Taurus, which the investigation showed belonged to a Troy resident, but also gift cards in the name of the car’s owner and two bicycles, Wilson said. Police followed tracks in freshly fallen snow and were flagged by two women on Leroy Street who reported their bicycles had just been stolen from their garage, Wilson said.

Photos via Ferndale Police Department