Detroit Police Officers Acquitted In Theft Case, Can Return To Work

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Detroit's police chief says two members of an elite police unit can return to work after being acquitted of stealing money from people they stopped on the street.

A jury acquitted Officers Charles Lynem and Chancellor Searcy this week.

Chief James Craig tells WXYZ-TV that there will be a transition period for the officers before they return to the streets. They had been suspended without pay.

Lynem and Searcy were partners in Detroit's Tactical Response Unit. The charges in October 2015 followed a yearlong investigation. They were accused of taking money from three people, starting with a 33-year-old man who was arrested in March 2013 at a gas station.

In another instance, a 28-year-old man filed a complaint Aug. 4, 2014, at a police precinct after money was taken from him on the city's west side. Six days later, money was taken from another man's pocket during a pat down. That man also filed a complaint.

Prosecutors also allege that circumstances around a Sept. 27, 2014, arrest of a 41-year-old man on the west side for carrying a concealed weapon were "fabricated."

They faced charges including embezzlement, larceny, misconduct and falsely reporting a felony charges.

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