Last Updated: July 29. 2011 5:07PM

Charles E. Ramirez/ The Detroit News

Chesterfield Township— Police have arrested a New Haven man for allegedly promising an elderly couple to make house repairs and then bilking them out of thousands, officials said today.

The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office has authorized several charges against Harvey Floyd Hood, 30, including two counts of larceny by false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000 and driving with a suspended license. The larceny charge is a five-year felony.

Police say a couple gave Hood a $5,500 cash deposit to make home repairs. However, the repairs were never made and the couple couldn’t track down the suspect. The couple called police July 17, according to Lt. Deron Myers with the Chesterfield Township Police.

Investigators learned Hood was wanted on 13 warrants for other crimes, including larceny by false pretenses and failing to appear in court, Myers said.

At one point, the couple spotted the suspect at a restaurant in Fair Haven and they called police. The suspect was gone before officers arrived, but the couple gave police a description of Hood’s vehicle and his license plate.

Detectives determined the truck Hood was driving was registered to a relative and he was living with a girlfriend in the township, Myers said.

An officer who was searching the area where the girlfriend lives came across Hood on Wednesday and stopped him.

In addition to the outstanding warrants and pending fraud charges, police determined Hood has five driver’s license suspensions and one prior suspension conviction. Police also found identification on Hood that did not belong to him, Myers said.

Hood is being held in the Macomb County Jail and is expected to be arraigned on charges related to the theft from the Chesterfield Township couple in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore on Monday.

cramirez@detnews.com

(313) 222-2058

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