Police: Teenagers tied to recent business burglaries

(Left) Laprece Mar’Quel Stitt-Nathan and Corey Michael Stewart

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10 — Two local teenage boys are suspected of orchestrating a string of restaurant burglaries in Lansing, but one remains on the lam and police are looking for tips to help track him down.

Laprece Mar’Quel Stitt-Nathan, 17, of Lansing, today was charged in 54-A District Court with two counts of breaking and entering a building and larceny. Officials at the Lansing Police Department said he and another local boy — who remains at large — burglarized multiple downtown businesses within the last several weeks.

LPD spokesman Robert Merritt said Stitt-Nathan and Corey Michael Stewart, 17, also of Lansing, were tied to recent overnight burglaries at The Green Door and Olympic Broil. Ingham County Prosecutors on Tuesday authorized an identical set of charges against Stewart, but officers haven’t had much luck locating the suspect.

“We’re not ruling out that these two may have had accomplices and may be responsible for other business burglaries downtown,” Merritt said, noting additional break-ins were reported within recent weeks at both Golden Harvest and Jerusalem Bakery and could be tied to the burglaries at Green Door and Olympic Broil.

Merritt also reported additional thefts from local businesses within recent weeks. He said a 14-year-old boy — who has since been arrested —walked into Eastside Fish Fry earlier this month and ran off with a tip jar. The same boy also took a cash register from Subway and later Papa John’s, Merritt said. The cases are not connected.

Stitt-Nathan remains jailed on a $5,000 cash or surety bond ahead of his next courtroom appearance later this month. The investigation remains ongoing. Those with any additional information about Stewart’s whereabouts are asked to call 517-483-4600.

Visit www.lansingcitypulse.com for updates as they become available.