Police seeking tips on strange threats

Canton township police are asking area residents for information regarding a bizarre scheme that involves threatening letters and balloons.

Detective Rick Pomorski said four or five township residents received computer-generated letters, string and two balloons each last week. He said residents in Garden City and Plymouth Township received identical letters recently.

The residents were told that they should place one of the balloons on their house and the other on their mailbox if they were willing to pay the letter writers not to hurt them or damage their property.

Pormorski said police suspect the letters might have been a prank, since schools were not in session in Canton last week, but police don’t know whether that is the case.

He said the Canton letters have been turned over to the Michigan State Police crime lab for fingerprint and DNA analysis.