Cigarettes thief nailed for taking lottery tickets

A suspect was arrested on Monday, April 6, by Bloomfield Township police for theft of cigarettes from the Speedway, 4890 W. Maple Road, and was also later linked to the theft of lottery tickets days earlier at the same location.

Originally police were dispatched to Speedway for a retail fraud that just occurred. Witnesses at the store reported that a white male entered the store and walked into the back-storage room that is off limits for customers, selected two cartons of cigarettes, concealed the cartons in his back pockets, and then approached the register.

The male purchased two lotto tickets and two bags of Funyuns before leaving the store. Employees noticed the bulges coming from his back pockets and called 911.

The suspect fled the scene in a black Chevrolet Silverado, but was quickly located by Bloomfield Township police who made a traffic stop on the vehicle. The driver was identified as Thamer Noori Hermiz, a 52-year-old white male from Farmington Hills. Officers located the unopened boxes of cigarettes in plain view and placed Hermiz under arrest.

The investigation unit was assigned this case and was quickly able to tie Hermiz to a previous retail fraud at Speedway on April 3 during which he was caught on surveillance video stealing lottery tickets totaling $2,350.

Both cases were sent to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for review. The prosecutor issued a two-count warrant for retail fraud first degree and retail fraud second degree. Hermiz was arraigned in 48th District Court where a bond was set for $7,500 (10 percent).