Michigan Firefighter Charged With Breaking Into Homes to Steal Painkillers
Martin D. Dean, 33, is charged with five counts of home invasion in the first degree - each punishable by up to 20 years in prison - as well as possession of burglary tools, The Bay City Times reported.
Authorities say Dean, of Linwood, would use a master key to city-owned senior apartments to enter the apartments at night wearing a firefighter's coat. He would tell residents who woke up that he was just checking on them, officials said.
Police arrested Dean on Feb. 23 following a rash of break-ins at the Pine Towers senior apartments.
Messages seeking comment were left Thursday for both Dean and his lawyer.
Dean told detectives that he became addicted to painkillers after doctors first prescribed them 12 years ago when he was battling cancer. When doctors stopped giving him prescriptions, Dean said he came up with the plan to raid people's medicine cabinets, according to the police report.
''It's actually a relief'' to be caught, Dean was quoted as saying.
One of the victims of the break-ins at Pine Towers, George White, said he had been recovering from a quintuple bypass late last month when he was startled one night by a beam of light in his bedroom.
''I jumped up out of bed, and there was a man in the kitchen with a flashlight in his right hand and a key (card) in his left hand,'' White, 83, said.
''I was scared to death. I said 'Who are you?' He said, 'I'm a fireman,' and showed me the back of his jacket, so I let my guard down.''
The two talked about White's recent surgery. He showed the man his medications, shook his hand, thanked him for his concern and watched him walk off down the hall.
''I just figured he was checking up on me,'' White said. ''When I found out what was really going on, I was pretty well shook up, and I've been shook up ever since. The whole building's shook up.''
Dean, who is free on bond, is due to appear in the 74th District Court for a preliminary hearing on March 10.