Tampered Dog 'Treats' Prompt Police Investigation; Fenton Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Holly Bar Death

Area Patch sites provided the following reports. In all incidents where an arrest occurred, a charge is merely an accusation and not evidence of guilt.

Plymouth-Canton Patch

Tampered 'Treats' for Dogs Prompt Police Investigation

Dog owners in a Canton subdivision say their pets have been injured by sharp metal objects found in food placed on the ground around the neighborhood, according to a report from the Canton Observer.

According to the report, Canton Police are investigating a string of incidents related to the foreign object-laden food scattered in a common area in the neighborhood of Central Park South northwest of Geddes and Beck roads. Police say the incidents could lead to criminal charges, the report indicated.

Anastasia Bremmer told the Observer her two pit bull mix pets had costly surgery to remove needles ingested after eating sausage they found on the ground.

Fenton Patch

Fenton Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Holly Bar Death

Fenton resident Evan James Wells has pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in Oakland County Circuit Court and also to being a Habitual Fourth Offender.

Sentencing will take place at Oakland County Circuit Court at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 26. Wells is held at Oakland County Jail pending sentencing.

Police responded to a call from Martini’s Bar & Grill in the Village of Holly for an assault complaint on Friday, Oct. 12. Officers arrived and found a 43-year-old Highland man lying unconscious outside the bar, according to Holly police.

Rescue crews transported the victim, who police have identified as Ronald Smith, 43, of Highland, to Genesys Regional Medical Center, where he never regained consciousness and was according to police.

Police say Wells punched the victim in the face during an altercation, causing Smith to fall backward and slam his head on the cement, resulting in a severe brain injury.

White Lake-Highland Patch

Police Called Following Threatening Calls in White Lake

White Lake Township police are looking for a man who is apparently upset over someone taking his newspapers. The man, police said, has been making threatening phone calls to another White Lake resident.

The incidents happened Jan. 27 at 7:50 p.m. when an unknown man called a home on the 500 block of Coledale.

According to the report, the homeowner answered the phone and a man told him that he was, "sick of you stealing my newspapers. Bring them back." The man on the line then hung up.

The phone rang a second time a few minutes later, the homeowner told police. This time, the man told the homeowner that if he didn't bring back his newspapers, he would beat him up.

The phone rang two more times, the report states, but the homeowner did not answer.

The homeowner told police he had no idea who could be calling him.

The incident remains under investigation.

Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch

Farmington Public Safety Reaches Out to Solve 1980 Murder

Farmington Public Safety has reached out to the public to close the books on the department's only unsolved homicide, which happened in December of 1980. 

A segment aired Monday night on WDIV-TV shares the story of Debra Rentschler, an 18-year-old prostitute whose snow-covered body was discovered in a parking lot in the area of Drake and Grand River on Christmas Day that year. Commander Frank Demers told reporter Kevin Dietz that investigators would like to talk with two women in a photo with Rentschler, who may have been her friends. 

Watch the WDIV report to view the photo and learn more about the reward being offered for information leading the arrest of Rentschler's killer: Women in picture could help close Farmington's only unsolved murder.