Dozens of text messages between two women show they plotted a break-in of a Roseville man whom they were dating simultaneously to take and destroy items, according to a police detective.
Some of the messages were revealed Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the preliminary examination for Colleen Compton, 30, of Warren, and Brianna Cabano, 29, of Auburn Hills, who is a suspended Detroit police officer. The exam was held at the 39th District Court in Roseville. The two are charged with second-degree home invasion, home-invasion conspiracy, malicious destruction of property $1,000-$20,000 and larceny in a building.
A third woman, Dayne Sears, 22, who is also a suspended Detroit officer, waived her right to the exam and faces a Jan. 17 pretrial in front of Macomb County Circuit Judge Richard Caretti. Sears is charged with home invasion, malicious destruction of property, larceny in a building and accessory after the fact.
Judge Kathleen Tocco ruled the text messages could be presented in court following two days of the exam last fall where defense attorneys objected to their admission as evidence and later filed legal briefs.
Tocco will reveal her decision Wednesday, Jan. 17, on whether to bind over the two women to Macomb County Circuit Court on any or all of the charges.
Det. Joanna Gudel took the stand Wednesday and described written messages from Cabano’s phone with Compton’s phone in the three days prior to the April 11 incident in which they discussed breaking into the Roseville home of Detroit police officer Otis Funchess Jr., who at the time was suspended.
Gudel testified the pair “were seeking revenge” by breaking into the home of Funchess, who was living with Compton, had previously dated Cabano and had recently had sexual relations with Cabano. The messages began April 8, the same day Cabrano confronted Funchess in the morning at the home where Compton was also present.
Gudel described some of the messages.
“She (Compton) stated that they would make entrance through the window, destroy the property and get back Brianna’s chain,” Gudel said.
Property sought also included a MacBook, a TV, Sony Playstation 5 and a camera, according to the messages, she said. A bike also was mentioned, she added.
“Miss Cabano responded that they could use Dayna’s truck” to travel to the scene,” Gudel said.
They would park the truck in a business parking lot behind Funchess’ home near 10 Mile and Kelly roads, climb the wall, steal items, place them in the truck, according to the plan, Gudel said.
She said the pair didn’t want to use their own vehicles because they may be recognized.
Compton reminded Cabano to “not to forget to buy two liters of Coke, pop, something that can be poured on the bed,” Gudel said.
They planned that Compton would be the one to enter the Huron Street home.
Cabano told Gudel in an interview days after the incident she and Compton climbed over the wall, according to the detective. After Cabano was unsuccessful in using a code to open Funchess’ garage, Compton stepped on to an air conditioning unit and used a brick to break a window. Compton cut her finger while entering she told Gudel in an interview following the incident.
Compton said in her interview Cabano also entered the home, but Cabano denied entering the home.
Funchess testified at the hearing last fall he arrived home at about 3 p.m. April 11, detected “a strong odor of bleach” and noticed damage. In the living room, there was “red juice” on a couch and ottoman, and his $2,200 MacBook computer and $350 attached hard drive had bleach on them and didn’t work.
There was a hole in a wall and his $800, 65-inch TV was smashed, he added. In his bedroom, the sheets were off his bed and a red substance were poured on the mattress, forcing him to spend $350 to clean it, and a 55-inch Samsung TV was broken. Missing from the home were a $2,100 camera, two camera lenses valued at a total of $4,100, a $270 flash drive, a $1,100 coat and a $400 Apple Homepod, he said.
The thieves also took one shoe from each of up to 20 pairs of his shoes. Funches’ insurance company paid $20,000 to resolve his claim, he said.
Cabano told Gudel Compton handed her items outside the home and put them in the truck parked behind the wall allegedly occupied by Sears, according to Gudel.
Afterward, Compton said she put the stolen items in a Dumpster, the detective said. Compton said she returned later to retrieve them, but the bin was empty, Gudel said.
Under cross examination by Cabano’s attorney, Camilla Barkovic, Gudel acknowledged she downplayed the potential ramifications against Cabano, telling her, “Let’s talk cop to cop.”
Gudel said she believed it was possible Cabano could avoid charges.
“I always try to work things out if the victim is on board,” she testified.
Cabano initially denied involvement but admitted her role after Gudel indicated she knew she was involved. Cabano told Gudel it was Compton’s idea to enter the home to retrieve some of her own personal items, Gudel said and agreed with Barkovic that Cabano never indicated in text messages she would destroy property.
During cross examination by Compton’s attorney, Amir Makled, he pushed his defense Compton may have still been living at the home and had a legal right to enter.
“You don’t know if she (Compton) had permission to enter the home,” Makled asked.
“That’s correct,” Gudel responded.
April 11 security video from a camera at The Orchards at Roseville nursing home some distance away shows a red truck pulling up at the wall behind Funchess’ home and two individuals climbing over the wall and returning later. But Gudel conceded the individuals and model of the truck could not be identified due to the length of distance they were away.
Funches Jr. was suspended from the Detroit force in 2021 after he was charged with domestic violence for assaulting Cabano in 2021 at her Taylor home at the time.