Police: Chesterfield Couple Spot Thief Living Large

A 30-year-old man who allegedly stole thousands from an elderly Chesterfield couple seemed to be living large when he pulled a boat up to a Fair Haven dock in late July, .

His mistake: Coming to shore in the same place as his alleged victims–who jotted down the license plate of the Ford he got into and immediately contacted police.

Harvey Floyd Hood, formerly of New Haven and most recently living in Chesterfield, was charged in an arrest warrant Thursday on two counts of larceny by false pretenses and one count of driving with a suspended license. The first charge is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, while the second is a 93-day misdemeanor upon conviction.

Hood has a rap sheet that details 30 arrests–including 13 outstanding warrants for various crimes like larceny by false pretenses, insufficient fund check cases and failing to appear in court for charges, police said.

The most recent charges stem from May when police said the couple paid him $5,500 in cash as a deposit for home repairs that he never did. They've been unable to reach him since, township police said.

During the initial investigation, officers discovered Hood was no longer living at the Omo Road address in New Haven that's on his driver’s license and were unable to determine his whereabouts. 

But this month, the couple had been dining at Tin Fish in Fair Haven when they spotted Hood getting off a boat at the docks in front of the restaurant, noting it appeared he was "living the life," they told police.

Although he left before police arrived, they were able to give officers his license plate number and police said they found him on Joann Marie St. in Chesterfield, where he had been staying with a girlfriend.

He is lodged in the Macomb County Jail. An arraignment is likely to take place next week in in New Baltimore due to the number of other pending, separate cases, court officials said Friday.