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A man accused of stealing three catalytic converters and trying to steal a fourth one in Ferndale was ordered to stand trial Thursday on felony charges.
Cornelius Royal, 29, of Detroit waived his right to a preliminary examination in Ferndale 43rd District Court and was bound over for trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Royal was charged with larceny from an auto, a five-year felony, and attempted larceny from an auto, a two-year felony, at his arraignment last week. He is free after posting 10 percent of a $2,000 bond.
Ferndale police were called by a security firm for Pure Honda, 21350 Woodward, about 1:45 a.m. July 2 on a report of a suspicious man walking near vehicles in the parking lot.
Police found a silver Chevrolet Camaro parked on a nearby side street that drove off when an officer approached the car.
Police said they did a traffic stop and found Royal was driving the car with a suspended license.
“Inside the car officers saw a plastic bag containing several blades for a reciprocal saw commonly used to steal catalytic converters,” said Ferndale police Officer Jillian Mahlmeister. “In the trunk they found four freshly cut catalytic converters, used saw blades and bolt cutters.”
Police said they also found a battery charger for a reciprocal saw, which they later found in a residential yard near the Honda dealership.
“Officers investigated the parking lot and found a catalytic converter had been partially removed from a car and another one was missing from a Honda Element,” Mahlmeister said.
Police said they believe the suspect may have only partially removed the converter from one vehicle because he noticed police arriving and went to his car.
The missing converter matched the size and diameter of one of those found in the trunk of Royal’s vehicle, police said.
Two of the other converters in the trunk turned out to be stolen the same night from two work vans at WaterWork Plumbing, 1049 Hilton Road, in Ferndale, police said.
When police stopped Royal and asked him what he was doing on the side street near the dealership he told them he had been sleeping in his car, police said.
After that he made no further statements to investigators.
Royal has another felony case pending in Wayne County Circuit Court for resisting arrest. In 2013, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of resisting and obstructing police.
A time and date for the suspect’s arraignment for trial in Oakland County Circuit Court was pending Thursday.
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