Pastor Marvin Winans Carjacked at Detroit Gas Station

[Zacha341]

Well per one of the commenters on the Detroit News site there's too much 'pain' in that area for one to be coming thru too flashy ---- !

"Common sense would tell you not to pump gas at Linwood and Davison with a Rolex watch on. There's too much pain over there for that."
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1v4mivAIz

O-ok, can you pump gas safely these days in your 1999 Ford Focus wearing a $19.99 watch purchased from say Target?

I love the 'justification! Just love it!

WJBK reports that his watch was worth $40,000. They said it is a "Presidential Rolex".

I did a google search, I found pricing on those to be around $10,000, not $40,000. But I still think it's ridiculous that a "humble" pastor would go around wearing a $10,000 watch.

I most certainly would not go to or donate money to a church with such a gaudy pastor.

[rex]

The square that constitutes Dexter Joy Linwood, Davison. I walked and sold stuff on most of the main roads in the city over a decade ago. Anyhow the rest of Detroit I never had a single problem. I talked to every single person I ran across. Folks in the city seem to respect the hustle. I never made much because I gave stuff away. However, that square of roads I had a bunch of problems. Chased thru a carwash by a handful of teens, accosted inside the a coney island, and approached at the hardware store, watched a woman get beat down outside the clinic, I was regarded with disrespect in that neighborhood...a lot. Other parts of the city not at all. Besides it was just bad vibes. People wandering aimlessly, milling about, sirens, drama. Watched a lady sitting on her porch as a bunch of police showed up to arrest her grandson. Kid couldnt have been much older than 13. The woman was devastated. That area bums me out.

[Scottathew]

O-ok, can you pump gas safely these days in your 1999 Ford Focus wearing a $19.99 watch purchased from say Target?

LOL

I never want to blame the victim. My point wasn't so much that he made himself a target, but rather that pastors in the churches I have gone to aren't so gaudy or "blingy" or whatever you want to call it. Being the pastor of a church should not be such a lucrative opportunity that you can afford to waste $10,000 [[or $40,000 as WJBK reported) on a watch.

Although, I most certainly would not make myself such a tempting target at a Detroit gas station.

[iheartthed]

No.

This is a notoriously rough part of the city. I would think most people would think twice before stopping at a gas station in this area, especially with expensive items such as a rolex around your body.

The gas station has the right to be there, someone apparently manages to make a profit over there.

I dunno, I've driven through that intersection countless times and wouldn't have hesitated to stop and get gas there at 5pm... [[Although I probably wouldn't do so at 10pm.) And that's what makes this even more troubling. He was on one of the busiest corridors of the city, at the busiest time of the day, with plenty of witnesses, and he was still robbed. That is pretty fucking brazen. I'm cautious to endorse crackdowns but... I think the recent uptick of violence in the city warrants it right about now.

[iheartthed]

Well per one of the commenters on the Detroit News site there's too much 'pain' in that area for one to be coming thru too flashy ---- !

"Common sense would tell you not to pump gas at Linwood and Davison with a Rolex watch on. There's too much pain over there for that."
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1v4mivAIz

O-ok, can you pump gas safely these days in your 1999 Ford Focus wearing a $19.99 watch purchased from say Target?

I love the 'justification! Just love it!

Well, it was very insensitive for one of the nation's most prominent Christian clergy to walk around one of the poorest areas of the nation with a watch that cost more than a house in the neighborhood. On that note, I say he got his just due. However, it is troubling that certain people felt comfortable enough to pull off such a crime in the middle of the day.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

gas station crime. If i still lived in town i think i would consider driving to a suburb when i needed gas. Gas is already too expensive but srsly... unless you are pulling up to the pump in rusty 1988 Caravan, looking under your seat for change and dressed cheap its worth your life or at the very least your possessions to fuel up north of 9 mile. Detroit gas stations is 1 of a few places to be a random victim.

Why would they drive to the suburbs for gas, when it's on average 10 to 15 cents cheaper per gallon in Detroit? Is it because station owners in the suburbs feel that people are more capable to pay extra for it? I get my gas at certain stations in Detroit because of that. You have to be aware of your surroundings. I never could understand why it's cheaper in the city.

[bopcity]

The three or four young men fled with his gray Louis Vuitton wallet containing $200, his $15,000 Rolex gold-and-diamond-encrusted watch and the deep-burgundy 2012 Infiniti QX56 SUV he was driving, according to Detroit police.

Think it might be a good time for the Rev to brush up his Bible studies?

Mark 10:25 - It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

I routinely get gas on Woodward in Highland Park, cheapest prices I've found. Mornings, never at night, same with my bank's money machines.

Also try to patronize Citgo whenever possible, would much rather Hugo Chavez have my money than these bastards.

The cover of “Private Empire,” Steve Coll’s new book about the Exxon Mobil Corporation, is a forbidding black slab. Even the lettering looks dismal. It’s the color of a chain smoker’s lung... The company, Mr. Coll writes, is “a corporate state within the American state” and “one of the most powerful businesses ever produced by American capitalism.” Some employees call its ominous headquarters near Dallas the Death Star...

“I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.,” [Exxon Mobil’s longtime chief executive] Mr. Raymond once declared."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/bo...pagewanted=all

[jtf1972]

Thought I'd share this, as we all need a smile...

Talking to my mother about this, I asked if she knew who he is: "They have that church and sing, right? A few of the brothers also do comedy."

That's Wayans, mom. They're different.

I am kinda amazed that a humble servant of God that wears a $40,000 watch would be fueling his own purple pimpmobile.* I would think he would have an assistant do that.

*Expensive vehicles with loud, custom paint qualify as pimpmobiles in any 70's film, so there is where I base my opinion. Not on Pastor Winans. Thank God he is ok.

[Occurrence]

Since he belongs to a church, why didn't God protect him from getting attacked?

[Meddle]

Maybe 'God' was punishing him for conspicuous consumption.

[Zacha341]

Hah! That's almost funny, but seriously - and in just in brief so as to not take this into a theological discussion - the Bible states that "For he [[God) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45.... NOW I am not arguing or debating about how JUST or perfect this pastor is, but that scripture helps to explain why bad things happen to good people.

If that Christian perspective is annoying or objectionable, check out the book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by jewish writer Harold S. Kushner or some of the Hindu teachings that attempt to give answer to this seeming irony.

Since he belongs to a church, why didn't God protect him from getting attacked?

[Zacha341]

That's IS funny. Yet sad, and not too surprising that there's confusion there, which speaks to the over-arching 'entertainment' aspect that has taken over some churches.

Thought I'd share this, as we all need a smile...

Talking to my mother about this, I asked if she knew who he is: "They have that church and sing, right? A few of the brothers also do comedy."

That's Wayans, mom. They're different.

[Zacha341]

That point does seem to emerge, especially in the context of clergy... though not an excuse for him to get rolled out like that while pumping gas.

Mark 10:25 - It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

[Zacha341]

And equally troubling, if not more so that those same robbers are not so precise in differentiating those who supposedly deserve it [[sic) from those that do not? Are they? I'd love to hear their 'dialogue' and cataloguing as such... relative to who gets janked today vs. who will be 'spared'.

Perhaps the invisible man or woman option is relevant when getting gas - so as to not be so sentenced or aquitted in the court of the streets. Umm, let's make that an invisible car too!!

Course now there are some clergy with CPL's out there too... This could have all bowed differently.

On that note, I say he got his just due. However, it is troubling that certain people felt comfortable enough to pull off such a crime in the middle of the day.

[ragnarok1981]

I am glad that people are seeing something wrong with his display of wealth. Now granted I am not a christian, but I think I know a decent amount about the religion and the teachings of Christ. I may be wrong here but I thought Jesus taught that you should be helping the poor not yourself. Pastor Winans is one of many Black preachers in the Detroit area and the nation as a whole who are very wealthy and flaunt their wealth. In the meantime they have members of their congregations who are poor and living in bad areas of the city, yet they fork over their hard earned money to enrich these guys who are little more than leaches feeding off their flocks. I live just down the street from the former arch diocese residence now owned by Wayne T Jackson. The guy does not even live there and just uses the place for sunday brunch, and actually he had his church buy the house for him. I just can't understand why it is so acceptable in the black community to have your church leaders living like that when so many in the congregation don't.

[ragnarok1981]

Oh and I almost forgot to mention the god awful eyesore of a church he is building on Woodward. That thing is taking years and years to finish and it is hideous. The worst part is the enormous cross they have erected on top of the thing that I can see clear from my house over half a mile away. I know if Jesus were to come back today he would just shake his head in disgust at a sight like that.

[Zacha341]

This problem is discussed, and hotly debated relative to doctrine and practicality of church purpose and viableility beleive it or not within the 'faith' [[Christian community). The turn towards high-profile displays of wealth is and has been a problem, even ending up the secular courts as we've seen.

The lavish style and heavy materialistic emphasis is not my style of church and I am happy to report that ALL Detroit church do not operate in this manner. I prefer the modest, more first Corrinthian church style - simple and effective for what the purpose of the church should be about.

I think about the 'house church' movement growing in China and other parts of Asia etcf. No flash and bling-bling there - congregating, prayer and reading the Bible there can cost you much, including your wealth and your health. Are they any less Christian? Certainly not.

I am glad that people are seeing something wrong with his display of wealth. Now granted I am not a christian, but I think I know a decent amount about the religion and the teachings of Christ. I may be wrong here but I thought Jesus taught that you should be helping the poor not yourself.

[ejames01]

No surprised to see this thread turn into religion bashing

[313WX]

Why would they drive to the suburbs for gas, when it's on average 10 to 15 cents cheaper per gallon in Detroit? Is it because station owners in the suburbs feel that people are more capable to pay extra for it? I get my gas at certain stations in Detroit because of that. You have to be aware of your surroundings. I never could understand why it's cheaper in the city.

Well first off, you won't pay 10-15 cents more in all of the suburbs.

That may be true if you go to Grosse Pointe and Oakland County, where the customer base is wealthier/white collar and thus the owners can afford to charge more for gas, but not so in Downriver Communities or Southern Macomb County.

Tht's probably due to a combination of factors, two of which are the proximity to the MArathon REfinery [[lower transportation costs rtanslates to lower costs at the pump) and the fact that poorer/working class areas tend to have lower demand for the gas [[due to limited incomes), thus the owners have to lower their prices in order to stimulate more of it.

The Valero Gas Station at 7 Mile and Chalmers is frequently listed as the cheapest gas station in the region [[in the dead center of zip code 48205). But I'm dead certain some shady messhappens there all the time.

As for people in the city going into the suburbs for gas, it's a matter of costs and benefits. MAny people feel the cost of driving a little out of their way to get gas in Eastpointe or Warren doesn't outweigh the benefit of a safer environ out there versus neighborhood gas station. This is less so of course for folks in the city near downtown and more so for folks who live on the edge of the city. Obviously the cost of going all the way out to the suburbs from near downtown would outweigh the benefit of higher safety.

[Zacha341]

Yep. And the assumptions, stereotypes and or misunderstandings therein...

No surprised to see this thread turn into religion bashing

[Zacha341]

Good points 313WX. As I said elsewhere here it's the proximity to the refineries that sell and brand out to the various stations that has an impact. The further they have to drive out to deliver the gas the higher it is..

All suburbs are not the same. Royal Oak is high for example, more so than Taylor. Downriver areas are cheaper, always have been. I am in-and-out of the city often for work etc. and I find my good rates in Dearborn. Are all suburban gas stations 'perfectly' safe? Of course not.

But they are often safer, especially as they simply do not allow folks to hang-out and loiter, spiting on the sidewalk and cursing! One call to the cops and that's the end of that. Fast.

Detroit stations allow to many hanger-outs. Not driving, no purpose, except to see who they can roll for their car or rob. You best keep you wits about you always, I don't stop at any station if I see people hanging-out - waiting for a mark they can try.

[iheartthed]

Tht's probably due to a combination of factors, two of which are the proximity to the MArathon REfinery [[lower transportation costs rtanslates to lower costs at the pump) and the fact that poorer/working class areas tend to have lower demand for the gas [[due to limited incomes), thus the owners have to lower their prices in order to stimulate more of it.

It's because there is more competition in the city for gas dollars.

[jolla]

In Detroit, I normally go to the Mobil on Jefferson & St. Aubin or the Shell on McNichols & I-75. I always pay at the pump and take the keys with me. I go after work [[5:30-ish).

I've never felt unsafe; should I?

[iheartthed]

In Detroit, I normally go to the Mobil on Jefferson & St. Aubin or the Shell on McNichols & I-75. I always pay at the pump and take the keys with me. I go after work [[5:30-ish).

I've never felt unsafe; should I?

Maybe, if you drive an $80,000 car and wear a $15,000 watch on your wrist.

[313WX]

It's because there is more competition in the city for gas dollars.

That may be a factor as well.

As a said, there's a combination of factors for the price discrepancies.