Burglars target U-M students • Oxford HS shooting report coming • Dispute over inches halts Holly Hotel work

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - Ann Arbor police say they have received six break-in reports near the University of Michigan in a 48-hour period.

Student rentals are being targeted. The suspect typically goes through unlocked first-floor windows and cuts the screens with a knife, police said. These break-ins come as students return to campus and get ready for the new school year.

During one break-in, a woman confronted the suspect around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday. When confronted, he fled through the front door with an iPhone, a Bluetooth speaker, and cash. Police said a person of interest was identified in connection with this break-in.

"I'll definitely be more aware knowing this," said Chloe Erickson, a junior at the school. "It's unfortunate to know that this is happening, and we might not be as safe as we feel."

As police investigated the break-ins that happened Tuesday and Wednesday, they caught a suspect breaking into a house overnight into Thursday. They are working to determine if the suspect is connected to the other crimes.

Oxford High School shooting report coming

Almost two years after the deadly Oxford High School shooting, an independent report is set to be released.

Guidepost Solutions has been reviewing the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting. It previously released what it called an "independent report on threat and suicide assessments and physical security."

The company said the report will address the shooting, as well as what led up to it and the district's response.

According to Guidepost, the company cannot discuss the materials it reviewed or the witnesses employees talked with. However, Dizik's earlier statement noted that "many critical witnesses have refused to talk to us on the advice of the district’s attorneys, causing delays in our work."

Holly Hotel rebuild stops amid inches dispute

Back in 1891, when the Holly Hotel was built, it butted up against the arcade that used to be there and went over the property line in some places by an inch, seven inches in others.

Also, the roof eaves cross the property line by about 14 inches.

"The building has been there for 140 some years, over a century - and the arcade even longer," owner George Kutlenios said. "So, the property lines were kind of established when those two buildings were built, over a century and a half ago."

That overhang is causing issues as the owners now try to rebuild after a devastating fire last summer.

Kutlenios said that is causing issues with the owner of a vacant lot next door.

"He said he wanted us to cut off the eaves in case in the future he wanted to build a taller building there," he said.

FOX 2 reached out to Jeremiah Roberts, the owner of the lot, who told FOX 2 "Unfortunately, most of the information out there regarding the Holly Hotel is false. I am unable to comment further at this time."

'Upper-level' drug dealer busted, 2,000+ fentanyl pills seized

More than 2,000 fentanyl pills disguised as Adderall are off the streets after a recent drug bust.

An investigation started in July after the Warren Police Department’s Special Investigation Narcotics Unit (SID) learned that a man was possibly selling drugs out of his Sterling Heights home. 

That home was recently raided, and the 44-year-old man was arrested.

"You could call him a murderer - that's what he is, he's killing people," said Commissioner Bill Dwyer. "There’s not a day that goes by in a 24-hour period in Warren, in the third-largest city, that we don’t experience someone overdosing."

Police said they found drugs, including the thousands of pills, narcotic manufacturing equipment, ammunition, and cash. They also found an industrial cementer mixer and mixing agents used by the suspect to manufacture the fentanyl pills, and additional manufacturing paraphernalia including scales and blenders, smaller amounts of cocaine, and additional quantities of methamphetamine. 

"Our detectives will be asking for a very high bond, if no bond at all," Dwyer said. "We don’t want the killer to be back out on the street."

Businesses feel pain of Telegraph, 7 Mile construction 

A major road project underway at Telegraph and Seven Mile is causing a headache for drivers and local businesses say it is hurting them.

"It’s horrible, just a horrible experience," said Ahmed Thabit.

Thabit’s gas station on the northeast corner of the intersection is caught up in the construction.

"We went down from $2,500 a day in sales to now, $350 a day in sales," he said.

The entrance from Telegraph has been blocked for months.

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Idalia's wrath continues across Southeast with flooding in Charleston

After Hurricane Idalia made its unprecedented landfall along  Florida's Gulf Coast, Idalia continues its trek as a tropical storm into Georgia and the Carolinas, blasting destructive winds, and catastrophic storm surge and flash flooding as power outages climbed to over 600,000 utility customers.

The Category 3 storm made landfall on the coast of Florida's Big Bend near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. local time. With its 125 mph winds and significant flooding, it posed an immediate threat to lives and properties. The storm has now weakened to a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph as it lashes Georgia and the Carolinas.

As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the center of Idalia is 60 miles west of Charleston moving to the northeast and crossing into South Carolina.

Read more here.