DEARBORN, Mich. – Two teenagers and a pair of 22-year-old twins are accused of being linked to a string of robberies at pharmacies in Dearborn, Livonia, and Dearborn Heights.
The FBI is investigating Kyree Wilson, 19, Brandon Jones, 19, Jaleel Wiley, 22, and Janeil Wiley, 22, in connection with the theft of medication from pharmacies throughout Metro Detroit.
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They were all named in a criminal complaint filed Sept. 14.
Livonia pharmacy robbery
Livonia police were called at 6:51 p.m. July 19 to the iPharmacy at 31193 Plymouth Road in Livonia.
Dispatchers said there had been an armed robbery at the pharmacy, and the people responsible had fled east on Plymouth Road in a dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee.
When officers got to the area, they said they saw the Grand Cherokee leaving the pharmacy parking lot east on Plymouth Road. It fled through Milburn Street at a high speed.
Surveillance video from the pharmacy showed two people had walked in at 6:49 p.m. They both had thin builds and wore black ski masks. One man wore a black long-sleeved shirt, tan pants, and tan tennis shoes, while the other wore black pants, black shoes, and a black hooded sweatshirt that said “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” in multi-colored font on the front.
At some point, one of the men and the driver of the Jeep noticed police across the street and motioned for the other man to leave, the criminal complaint says.
At 6:53 p.m., both men got into the back seat of the Grand Cherokee and the driver took off, police said.
Livonia officers found fresh footprints in the dirt and pill bottles lying on the ground in front of the pharmacy doors.
Employees told police that one man had jumped over the counter into the back and demanded several medications, including Norco, Percocet, oxycodone, codeine, and Adderall.
When workers told the man that all the narcotics were kept in a safe, he made one of them go to the safe while gesturing at his waistband, “as if he had a weapon/gun,” the criminal complaint says.
The employee opened two safes, and the man filled two pharmacy bags with bottles of narcotics, authorities said. He also demanded cash, but jumped back over the counter and fled the store when workers said there wasn’t any in the register.
The Drug Enforcement Agency reported that about $60,000 worth of substances was stolen.
When police reviewed phone records, they said cellphones belonging to Wilson and Jones were both in the area of the pharmacy at the time of the robbery.
Surveillance cameras captured images of the Cherokee outside the pharmacy:
Wilson’s 2021 arrest
Officials said Wilson had been arrested on July 28, 2021, while driving the same Grand Cherokee in Detroit. Police searched the vehicle and found a handgun under the driver’s seat in a compartment that was only accessible to the driver, they said.
Authorities determined the handgun had been stolen.
Officers said they also found a bottle of Promethazine cough syrup in the vehicle. Wilson told them he didn’t have a prescription.
The criminal complaint states that the man who jumped over the counter during the above Livonia pharmacy robbery specifically demanded Promethazine codeine from an employee.
Grand Cherokee pulled over
Livonia police alerted nearby departments to be on the lookout for the green Grand Cherokee, and it was pulled over by Southfield officers on July 30.
Wilson was driving at the time of the traffic stop, and he had two passengers who refused to identify themselves, according to the criminal complaint.
Two days later, the Grand Cherokee was seen backed into the driveway of a home on Columbia Street in Redford Township. The home belongs to Wilson’s mother, who is also the registered owner of the Grand Cherokee, police said.
Dearborn pharmacy robbery
Dearborn police were called at 4:35 p.m. Aug. 5 to a robbery at the Dearborn Pharmacy at 14715 Ford Road.
Employees said two men walked into the pharmacy. One jumped over the counter while the other walked through a door to get to the other side of the counter, according to authorities.
They both approached an employee and demanded medication and money, the criminal complaint says.
The man who had jumped over the counter reached for his waistband as if he was concealing a weapon, officials said. He told an employee to take him to the safe while the other robber walked to the front door.
Officials said the employee took the robber to the safe while the other man let a third person into the business through the back door.
Between $1,500 and $1,600 in cash, as well as a variety of narcotics, was stolen from the safe, police said. The stolen medication included acetaminophen/codeine, acetaminophen/hydrocodone, and 26 others, according to the criminal complaint.
All three men left out the back door, got into a green Jeep Grand Cherokee, and fled, police said.
Phone records show cellphones belonging to Wilson, Jaleel Wiley, and Jones were in the area at the time of the robbery, according to officials.
Surveillance video confirmed the same Grand Cherokee from the Livonia robbery was used in the Dearborn robbery. It arrived at 4:32 p.m. and left at 4:37 p.m.
Officials said the robber who jumped over the counter was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white writing on the front and a red V on the back.
The other man who went behind the counter was wearing a blue mask, a black Nike jacket, and black Nike sweats.
The third person who entered the pharmacy wore a hooded sweatshirt that was light gray, dark gray, and black.
Nobody could provide a description of the person driving the Grand Cherokee, according to authorities.
Wilson arrested in Grand Cherokee
Detroit police said a green Jeep Grand Cherokee sped past them Aug. 9, and they tried to perform a traffic stop.
The Grand Cherokee didn’t stop immediately, and when it finally pulled over, an officer said the driver “moved around inside” before police approached.
Wilson was identified as the driver, the criminal complaint says. Jones was one of his two passengers.
Officers seized and searched the vehicle because of the reckless driving. They said they found a handgun loaded with 15 rounds and an additional round in the chamber inside the driver’s side window regulator.
Police said they also found 10 small, white, round pills with a “5″ on one side and an “M” on the other. The pills -- later identified as Ritalin -- were inside the driver’s side floorboard, they said.
Wilson did not have a concealed pistol license nor a prescription for the pills.
Dearborn Heights pharmacy robbery
Dearborn Heights police were called around 10:55 a.m. Aug. 15 to the Heights Family Pharmacy at 25524 Ford Road.
Employees said two men had entered the pharmacy and approached the worker at the counter. One man jumped over the counter and demanded to be taken to the safe. He grabbed the employee’s arm while being taken to the safe, and when the employee opened it, the other man held up a backpack so they could fill it with narcotics.
They demanded to be taken to the back door of the pharmacy, and then ran outside to an SUV, according to authorities.
The man who jumped over the counter was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a red V on the back, gray ripped jeans, and a white surgical mask. The sweatshirt matched one worn during the Dearborn robbery, according to police.
The other robber wore a black hooded sweatshirt, gray/black jeans, a blue surgical mask, and a black/gray backpack.
Phone records revealed Jaleel Wiley’s cellphone was in the area at the time of the robbery, officials said. He had searched the internet for “pharmacy near me” on Aug. 15, and there was a photo of Promethazine Hydrochloride and Codeine Phosphate Oral Solution taken on his phone at 11:31 a.m.
Text message conversation
Officials said shortly after the Dearborn Heights robbery, Jaleel Wiley texted a phone number that belongs to Wilson.
Here’s how their conversation went, per the criminal complaint:
Jaleel Wiley (11:32 a.m.): Sent the image of the Promethazine Hydrochloride and Codeine Phosphate Oral Solution.
Wilson (1:28 p.m.): “U went?”
Jaleel Wiley (1:35 p.m.): “Yea an a flex y’all wasn’t gone come.”
Wilson (1:36 p.m.): “Bro you say anything”
Wilson (1:36 p.m.): “Woke up at 9:00 I said be on the way” “U said no im waiting on bro wit the scat”
Jaleel Wiley (1:37 p.m.): “Right never came so we drove the flex and y’all say y’all need something fast just because.”
Investigators said a black Ford Flex was used to flee from the Aug. 15 robbery in Dearborn Heights.
Officials said they also found an Aug. 13 screenshot of the Heights Family Pharmacy on Jaleel Wiley’s phone.
Robbery at second Dearborn pharmacy
Officers were called around 2:15 p.m. Aug. 19 to the Simple Script Pharmacy at 14234 Warren Avenue in Dearborn.
Employees said two men had entered the store and said, “Open the safe before someone gets hurt.”
When an employee opened the safe, one of the men took out cash and medications while the other jumped over the counter and waited for him to finish, according to the criminal complaint.
They both fled out the back door, and an eyewitness reported seeing two men running into the alley and getting into a white SUV. That witness said one of the men was partially hiding a handgun.
A surveillance camera captured video of a newer white Jeep Grand Cherokee heading north on Williamson Street and then west on Gould Street around the time of the robbery, police said.
Jaleel Wiley’s phone was used at 1:33 p.m. Aug. 19 to search for Simple Script Pharmacy, according to court records.
Officials said the cellphones belonging to Jaleel and Janeil Wiley were both in the area of 37000 Scotsdale Circle in Westland before the Aug. 19 robbery. Agents said they know this is where the twin brothers live.
Both cellphones then moved to the area of Grand River Avenue and McNichols Road in Detroit, according to authorities. Later, Janeil Wiley’s phone was near Simple Script Pharmacy right before the time of the robbery, court records show.
Moments after the robbery, both phones were found to be the in the same geographical location, police said.
“Officers know through training and prior experience that individuals often times manipulate or facilitate their phones in order to avoid detection by law enforcement,” the criminal complaint says. “Considering the pattern of the (phones) being together prior to the robbery and following the robbery, agents/officers are led to believe that both phones, as well as Jaleel and Janeil Wiley, were present during the robbery.”
Wiley brothers seen in white SUV
On Aug. 20, the day after the Simple Script Pharmacy robbery, officers found a white Jeep Grand Cherokee that matched the one described by the eyewitness in Dearborn.
They said they saw the Wiley twins get into the Grand Cherokee at their home in Westland and travel to Fairlane Mall in Dearborn.
Surveillance images of Janeil Wiley at the Fairline Mall closely resemble a person captured on video at the Simple Script Pharmacy robbery, according to the complaint.
Robbery at third Dearborn pharmacy
A fifth robbery was reported around 3:35 p.m. Aug. 26 at the RX Canada Direct Pharmacy at 23541 Ford Road in Dearborn, the criminal complaint says.
Officers were watching a black 2022 Tesla Model Y parked on the street near the pharmacy when a man got out of the passenger seat and walked inside. He was wearing all black clothing and white shoes.
Shortly afterward, police saw the man and a woman running from the front door of the business, court records show.
“Believing a robbery had occurred, agents/officers took (the man) into custody at the northeast corner of 23527 Ford Road,” the criminal complaint says.
Officials also arrested the driver of the Tesla as he tried to flee. He was identified as Jaleel Wiley, they said.
The woman told police that a man had entered the store and asked for medication. When she told him the pharmacy didn’t keep medication in the store and started to call 911, the man knocked the phone out of her hand, according to authorities.
She tried to run out of the store, but the man grabbed her and fled, police said.
Inside the Tesla, officers found three cellphones, a handgun that had been stolen in Farmington Hills, a Promethazine plain syrup side effect booklet, a prescription bottle, and a copy of a check with a receipt.
The check had been signed by Janeil Wiley and made payable to an apartment complex on Scotsdale Circle in Westland, authorities said.
One of the cellphones, a Schok Volt, was registered to Jaleel Wiley. There were recent searches for Todd’s Health Mart Pharmacy in Dearborn Heights, Westland Maple Drugs in Westland, 2020 Middlebelt (the address for the Minute Script Sav-Mor Pharmacy in Garden City), and H&A Health Pharmacy in Westland.
Officials said the phone had no saved contacts other than the factory settings numbers. Only three recent calls were shown.
Another cellphone found in the Tesla was an iPhone 11 registered to Jaleel Wiley. That phone had a picture of the same check signed by Janeil Wiley.
More phone data
Police said the phone number provided by Wilson to officers during his Aug. 9 arrest showed he had been with Jones on several occasions.
“It is clear from contacts and surveillance that these individuals are close associates,” the criminal complaint says.
While investigating Wilson’s phone activity on the days of the robberies, officials determined he was in frequent contact with Jones on those days.
Phone records for Jones and another person -- the other passenger inside the green Grand Cherokee on the day of Wilson’s arrest -- showed they had both been in regular contact with Jaleel Wiley, according to authorities.
Jaleel Wiley was with Wilson and Jones on several occasions and had frequent contact with them, the criminal complaint says.
Investigators reviewed phone data and learned that the cellphones belonging to Wilson and Jones were both in the area of the Livonia pharmacy on the date of the July 19 robbery.
The cellphones belonging to Wilson, Jones, and Jaleel Wiley were in the area of the Dearborn Pharmacy at the time of the Aug. 5 robbery, authorities said.
Jaleel Wiley’s cellphone was in the area of the Heights Family Pharmacy at the time of the Aug. 15 robbery, court records show.
Cellphones belonging to both Wiley brothers were in the area of the Simple Script Pharmacy at the time of the Aug. 19 robbery, according to officials.
Charges
The complaint outlined the criminal history of all four men:
- Wilson: No criminal history.
- Jones: A felony conviction under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act on Nov. 30, 2020, in 3rd Circuit Court.
- Jaleel Wiley: A conviction for carrying a concealed weapon on Jan. 28, 2022, in 3rd Circuit Court.
- Janeil Wiley: A controlled substance conviction under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act on Aug. 6, 2021, in 3rd Circuit Court.
The criminal complaint concludes there’s probable cause that Wilson, Jones, Jaleel Wiley, and Janeil Wiley committed robberies and larcenies involving controlled substances.