Crime & Safety

Police Blotter: Arrest of Fake Officer, Suicide and Home Break-in

A roundup of police calls from Friday through Tuesday.

A man wanted in White Lake for impersonating a police officer was arrested in Port Huron and brought back to White Lake to face charges.

Charles Speckman, 32, was arrested over the weekend after police in Port Huron recognized him as wanted for crimes in White Lake.

Last week White Lake Patch a man had gone to two local businesses posing as an undercover police officer. The man would take items from the store  then attempt to exchange them for a refund. He was successful at at least one business and attempted similar crimes in surrounding areas, including Royal Oak.

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Speckman was arraigned Tuesday and held on a $10,000 cash surety bond. He is charged with one felony count of impersonating an officer, one count of second-degree retail fraud and one count of third-degree retail fraud.

Speckman was also arraigned on one count of second degree retail fraud in Highland, and is being held on a $25,000 cash surety bond in that case.

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White Lake Police Chief Edward Harris said he expects Speckman will face additional charges for incidents that occurred outside White Lake and Highland.

Man found dead behind local church

A 23-year-old man was found dead behind an area church on Sunday.

Harris said a couple were walking their dog in a field near the church when they saw a man sitting on the steps of a construction trailer.

"They thought that perhaps the man was intoxicated, but as they approached they saw he was deceased," Harris said. "It appears the man shot himself with a shotgun sometime between Friday and Saturday."

Family and friends indicated to police, Harris said, that the man had talked of a suicide. A note found at the man's residence in Cedarbrook confirmed the suicide.

"It is very unfortunate," Harris said.

Guns taken from safe

A home on the 3000 block of White Lake Road was broken into sometime between March 30 and Saturday.

Harris said a neighbor discovered things were awry in the home. The owner was away on vacation.

"It appears someone disabled the power box and alarm then threw a rock through one of the basement windows and gained entry," Harris said.

Several guns from the home's gun safe were missing.

The house was processed for prints by detectives, and the incident remains under investigation.


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