Detective bumps into cigarette-buying suspect

[April 23, 2012]  TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A Michigan detective can credit legwork, luck and one man's bad habit for his latest arrest.

A Traverse City police detective went to a local gas station Thursday to show clerks a surveillance video image of someone accused of stealing a woman's credit card a week before. The man Detective Kevin Gay was looking for was buying a pack of cigarettes there.

Capt. Brian Heffner, who leads the detective bureau, said a chance encounter like this is rare but welcome.

"The odds are definitely against this happening. ... On the exact day and time he's in there, the suspect is buying a pack of cigarettes," Heffner told the Traverse City Record-Eagle for a story (http://bit.ly/JWEukm) published Saturday.

The man, 51, was arrested and faces charges of unlawful use of a credit card, the newspaper reports.

Police said the suspect had used the credit card at two area stations, including the one where he was nabbed.

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Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, http://www.record-eagle.com/

[Associated Press]

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