Police: Trio targeted Asian business owners for home invasions in Oakland Co
(WJBK) - Three suspects are under arrest, accused in a series of home invasions in Oakland County suburbs.
West Bloomfield police arrested three men accused of targeting dozens of Asian business owners in several cities - keeping track of their movements - then stealing from them in their own homes.
Now under arrest are Alban Mustafa and Andi Mustafa and Sotiraq Lako and police say there could be more
charges and even more arrests to come.
"They were targeting Asian business owners," said Deputy Chief Curt Lawson, West Bloomfield police. "They were following these business owners, finding out where they lived, who their children were, where they went to school.
"They were finding out everything they could about these individuals, doing a lot of surveillance for weeks at a time. They would look for a perfect opportunity and then they would do a home invasion on the residence."
The thieves targeted these business owners believing they had large amounts of cash on hand.
"There were some occasions where they were actually getting several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of cash," Lawson said. "In some others they were just getting jewelry."
Deputy Chief Curt Lawson says the investigation started back in November 2017 after several home invasions in West Bloomfield that appeared to be quite similar. The thieves broke in through a second story window to bypass the alarm system.
"We literally put hundreds of hours into this investigation," Lawson said. "We were able to identify them, follow them and actually saw them break into a house in Farmington Hills."
Lawson says two of the businesses the thieves had under surveillance in West Bloomfield were a nail salon and a sushi restaurant - but police say the investigative taskforce has determined these guys are responsible for home invasions in Novi, Farmington Hills, Birmingham and possibly Macomb and Livingston counties - maybe even into Ohio.
"This is one of the most proficient crews that I have seen work in Oakland County in the last 23 years," Lawson said. "We've linked them to 12 different home invasions in the metro Detroit area. We actually think it is a lot more than that."