Crime Report: Novi Police Charge Man for Drunken Driving, Pulling Police Station Fire Alarm

What started as a routine traffic stop by a Novi police officer ended with a man being arrested and charged with drunken driving, refusing to take a breath test and tampering with a fire alarm in the Novi police station, according to a police report.

According to the report, the officer was on traffic patrol near at Donelson and West Oaks Drive at 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 11 when he saw a gray Avalanche driving in the left-turn lane for about 400 feet.

The officer said he stopped the car and could "detect a strong odor" of alcohol from inside when the driver opened the window.

According to the report, the man said he was coming from a birthday party and had not been drinking.

The officer said the man refused to take a Breathalyzer test, and that when he asked the man to participate in some field sobriety tests, he dropped to his knees and would not stand up.

The officer said he arrested the man for "erratic behavior" and brought him back to the . At the station, the man was put in a holding cell, he said.

The officer said in the report that the man asked to talk to an attorney, so the officer let him out of the cell. According to the report, the man pulled a red fire alarm lever near the cell, which activated an alarm for the entire station.

The officer said the incident was caught on a closed circuit camera. The officer said he ordered a blood test for the man that will be submitted to the city prosecutor, pending results.

Novi man loses $2,000 through email scam

A Novi man is out $2,000 after he was the victim of an email scam.

According to the police report, the man received an email on Sept. 16 from an address which he believed to be his cousin's, but was actually different by one letter.

He said the person who wrote the email, whom he believed to be his cousin, said he was in London and asked him to send him $2,000 via Western Union.

According to the report, the man agreed and sent the money from the Western Union location at .

The man said in the report that on Sept. 17, he received an email from the same email address asking for another $1,200. He said he again sent the money, but then contacted his cousin, who said he was not in London and had not contacted him.

The man said he contacted Western Union's fraud department, which was able to stop the $1,200. The first $2,000 had already been picked up, they said, and could not be recovered.

The fraud department told the man that this was a common email scam and told him to file a report with his local police department for documentation.

Credit cards stolen from vehicles

A woman called Novi police at 2:51 a.m. Sept. 18 to report that her gold Coach wallet containing several credit cards and gift cards was stolen from her friend's vehicle parked in front of the Better Health Market on Main Street. The woman contacted police later that day to report that one of her credit cards was used twice at a gas station in Detroit and once at a White Castle in Southfield, according to the report.

In a separate incident, a man reported that his wallet and Samsung cell phone were stolen from his car parked in front of the at 31204 Beck Rd., where he works. He later called police and said his credit card had been used at the Speedway on Beck Road, according to the report.

If you have questions about this blotter, contact Editor Rebecca Jaskot at rebecca.jaskot@patch.com.