A string of local robberies have been linked to 24-year-old Lansing resident Travis Fee, who was arraigned Tuesday and charged as a habitual offender with three counts of first-degree home invasion in East Lansing and two counts of home invasion in Meridian Township, East Lansing police Lt. Jeff Murphy said.
Police officials said Fee is believed to have been connected to at least five robberies during the past few weeks, three of which took place on the 500 block of Gunson Street and the surrounding area. The other two incidents took place in residential areas of Meridian Township.
As of now police are not sure of the total number of thefts Fee was involved in,
Police said at least $2,000 worth of stolen property could be connected to Fee, including items found in his car during an April 7 traffic search that eventually were traced back to the original owner, packaging senior Alisha Felmlee.
“They found my résumé, a graphing calculator with my name on it and a few other things,” she said. “It wasn’t everything, but I’ll be glad to get it back.”
Fee currently is being held in Ingham County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.
The investigation is still open, Murphy said, and officials from both police departments are working to potentially arrest others connected to the case.
Weeks before Fee was arrested, Felmlee unwillingly became a part of the investigation.
It was almost time to head to class the morning of April 3, and Felmlee couldn’t find her backpack.
She looked downstairs, and she looked in her room. She searched her car and then the rest of her house on the 500 block of Gunson Street — all to no avail. But it was only when her roommate, packaging senior Libby Ardelan, couldn’t find some of her belongings either that Felmlee realized the gravity of the situation.
They’d been robbed.
“I never thought it would happen to us,” Felmlee said. “It didn’t hit me until that moment.”
During the robbery, Ardelan said her computer and some other expensive items that were inside her backpack were taken. Although she had insurance covering many of the items, she said she still didn’t understand why someone would target college students, of all people, to steal from.
“It’s not like I have much extra money to spare,” Ardelan said. “Nothing gives him the right to take from anyone, but it just doesn’t make sense.”
Others who live near where the Gunson robbery occurred, including psychology junior Haley Bourdeau, were slightly unnerved by the close proximity of the robbery. Even though it wasn’t Bourdeau’s home, she said it easily could have been.
“We’re not very great about locking our door — there’s always people coming in and out,” Bourdeau said. “It makes me really nervous, actually.”
Murphy said some of the goods that allegedly were stolen by Fee have been recovered, and he hopes more of the items will turn up as the investigation continues.
Fee is scheduled to appear in Lansing’s 30th Circuit Court on May 2.
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