Surveillance footage of the couple who used Zainab’s credit card at a Walmart in Roseville.

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Rachid and his newlywed wife Zainab were devastated after their home was burglarized in August and the culprits made off with jewelry— including a wedding ring— electronics and credit cards.

But that distress turned into outrage when Dearborn Heights Police told them they’d found their jewelry at a local pawn shop– and they had to pay if they wanted to recover their property.

Police believe that a woman and a man, connected to a larger ring of robberies in multiple cities, are behind the break-in at the couple’s home near Ford Road and Outer Drive.

Upon returning to her home on August 11, following a quick visit to the gym, Zainab discovered that her property had been burglarized. 

She was disheartened when she learned that the $9,000 worth of stolen jewelry included the piece most dear to her– her wedding ring.

“I was actually really shocked and upset,” Zainab said. “That was the most important thing to me that was gone. That’s all I wanted back. Everything else was material stuff, but the ring had more personal value.”

She notified police immediately.  Within an hour, she had also called her credit card companies to report that her cards had been stolen.

But it was too late–the thieves had already charged more than $1,000 on her credit card at a Walmart in Roseville.

Rachid said Dearborn Heights Police were too slow in obtaining any sort of evidence, so they had to do the work themselves. 

Within days, the couple got a hold of Walmart management and were able to obtain video evidence of a Black man and woman using the stolen credit card at the Roseville location.

The couple said they pressed Dearborn Heights Police to take the surveillance footage to the media, in order to ask for the public’s assistance in identifying the robbers. But as the days and weeks went by, the couple heard no progress from detectives. Zainab said she grew paranoid and unsettled.

“I felt an unease,” she said. “Every noise I would hear, I would get scared. I had anxiety and panic attacks for two months. You feel unsafe and violated.” 

After weeks of delays, Rachid and Zainab began actively pursuing the case themselves and pressured police to contact  WXYZ TV 7 to share the Walmart surveillance footage. The station aired a story about the couple’s case and included the surveillance footage from the Walmart.

Within hours, viewers had called into the police department to identify the suspects. 

After learning the man’s identity, Dearborn Heights Police discovered that he had already been arrested and jailed by Dearborn Police as a suspect in another robbery. That police department was also pursuing the woman. 

While Dearborn Police didn’t find her, officers did obtain a receipt to a pawn shop called “Motor City Pawn Brokers” in Livonia.

The female suspect had sold the jewelry and electronics to the pawn shop for $2,300. 

When Dearborn Heights Police informed the couple that their wedding ring, two bracelets and a watch had been found at the pawn shop, they were relieved –until police told them that if they wanted their items back, they needed to buy them from the pawn shop. 

“The state law says that they can buy it back and their insurance company can reimburse them,” Dearborn Heights Chief Lee Gavin told The AANews.

Last week, the couple purchased their jewelry back from the pawn shop for $2,300. 

Despite having their jewelry back, Rachid and Zainab are left disgruntled over how their case was handled. They claim that Dearborn Heights Police dropped the ball and didn’t aggressively pursue the culprits in time.

“From the beginning, when this happened, we ourselves had to lead the investigation,” Rachid said. “We found the location of the Walmart. We relayed it to the police. We asked them to do something right away. They didn’t do anything until after we kept pushing them. After two months, they finally contacted Channel 7. Meanwhile, the police department next door had already caught them and they are involved in other cases.”

Dearborn Heights Police wouldn’t confirm whether the two suspects had been apprehended by Dearborn Police.  Captain Michael Petri, who has been overseeing the case, told The AANews that because the suspects are part of a larger ring of people involved in numerous robberies, he couldn’t give further details.

“As far as I know, it’s an ongoing investigation with the suspects in our case having the potential to have been arrested in Dearborn,” Petri said. “And we are submitting it to the Wayne County Prosecutors Office.”

Meanwhile, Chief Gavin rebukes the claims that his department missed the mark in the investigation. 

“We went out and beyond, over and above on this case,” Gavin said. “And most likely, they will be prosecuted.  But we can’t prove that they were the ones that broke into the house. Just because you have stolen credit cards, it doesn’t mean they were the ones who broke into the home.”

While the couple regained their jewelry, their electronics– including a TV and laptop— have been seized by Dearborn Police for their investigation.

On Thursday, Dearborn Heights police notified Zainab that the woman caught on camera using her credit card at the Walmart, was finally arrested and arraigned by Dearborn Police.