Carjacking outside of Broderick Tower - 9:30 pm Wednesday Night

**corktownyuppie** · September-04-14, 10:18 PM

Be careful out there, everyone.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detr...wntown-detroit

**313WX** · September-04-14, 10:34 PM

To put a positive spin on this, you know things have really improved downtown when carjackings [[something that was once considered a normal occurrence) make the headline news again...

**corktownyuppie** · September-04-14, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

To put a positive spin on this, you know things have really improved downtown when carjackings [[something that was once considered a normal occurrence) make the headline news again...

I actually had the same thought. "Wow, I remember when this wasn't news."

Also, they got those guys on camera. Click on the story to check it out. It might take some time, but once you're on camera, the odds aren't good.

**Bham1982** · September-04-14, 11:51 PM

I doubt there was any point in Detroit history where downtown carjackings were routine and not newsworthy.

Downtown has always been relatively safe compared to the city overall.

**animatedmartian** · September-04-14, 11:55 PM

Criminals are pretty dumb to commit crime downtown these days. Omnicorp... I mean, Dan Gilbert has cameras everywhere.

Sucks for the potential new resident. But chances are if she does decide to move, that apartment vacancy would probably be filled the minute she cancels the lease.

**Danny** · September-05-14, 02:39 AM

That woman was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Getting jacked by two poor miserable black males who pacify welfare checks and food stamps wearing Trayvon Martins. They have graduated from petty thieves to grand theft! Now since their faces are in the wall of thieves they will get caught soon. These black males are in the Detroit area ready to strike again.

I would say to that female young professional. You may move back to Gilberttown Detroit, remember that crime is rampant there so very careful, especially at night. Thugs will case, rob and even kill you! Moving to the suburbs or anywhere else will not solve your living problems. I tried that when moving from Detroit the suburbs long ago and got rob at gunpoint. Crime happens everywhere whether you live in Detroit, suburbs or even the Amish country. The best you can do is watch your surroundings, carry protection and stay in public areas.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · September-05-14, 03:57 AM

^^ Crime being everywhere may be true Danny, but the odds of it happening are still much less in the burbs.

**Zacha341** · September-05-14, 06:07 AM

^^^ Yes, I've always argued that percentage ratio is meaningful against the 'crime is everywhere' argument. And I watch my surroundings where ever I go.

**313WX** · September-05-14, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

I doubt there was any point in Detroit history where downtown carjackings were routine and not newsworthy.

Downtown has always been relatively safe compared to the city overall.

It depends on how you define downtown also.

The 1970s were pretty rough for inner city Detroit. That's where the epicenter of the crime was [[in/around downtown), versus the outer ring neighborhoods like today.

**DetroitPlanner** · September-05-14, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

To put a positive spin on this, you know things have really improved downtown when carjackings [[something that was once considered a normal occurrence) make the headline news again...

Carjackings were never an issue downtown. This is the sort of stuff that happens at liquor stores and gas stations out in the neighborhoods. This shows that the crime is headed downtown because there are people living there who have money and are rather aloof. Why go out to Canton when there are plenty of pigeons in the CBD now?

**313WX** · September-05-14, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Carjackings were never an issue downtown.

Tell that to all of the folks who would come back to find their windows broken on their vehicles after parking on one of the surface streets for a Tigers game or to attend at show at the Masonic Theatre...

EDIT: Now you mention it, I'm thinking a car break-ins. Never mind.

**iheartthed** · September-05-14, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Carjackings were never an issue downtown. This is the sort of stuff that happens at liquor stores and gas stations out in the neighborhoods. This shows that the crime is headed downtown because there are people living there who have money and are rather aloof. Why go out to Canton when there are plenty of pigeons in the CBD now?

I don't think this shows anything about where crime is headed. Liquor store parking lots and gas stations are the perfect places for robberies and carjackings because people are often alone and out of sight of witnesses in those places. And they are also usually built along thoroughfares to make quick getaways. If downtown continues to increase in population density then that makes it a poor place for a carjacker to work.

**Bham1982** · September-05-14, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

It depends on how you define downtown also.

The 1970s were pretty rough for inner city Detroit. That's where the epicenter of the crime was [[in/around downtown), versus the outer ring neighborhoods like today.

I wasn't around in the 70's, but I seriously doubt this was true. Downtown Detroit was never an epicenter of crime.

Yeah, the worst neighborhoods back then were more "inner city" than now, because as neighborhoods empty out, the thugs move further out, and the cycle repeats, but downtown was never one of those neighborhoods. It had very few residents.

If anything, I would guess downtown was safer back then, because you had far more pedestrian activity and streetlife.

**TKshreve** · September-05-14, 11:53 AM

Perhaps the news is just catching up to what everybody else is thinking of regarding crime [[after all, the news is in the business of telling us what we want to hear):

Criminals have become so barefaced and lawless in Detroit that it needs to be brought to the head of the line of things that need to be addressed in Detroit.

Following the Utash incident for example, and including many others that have occurred in recent years people are starting to realize that criminals in Detroit can conduct their "business" unabated by police and residents alike. The safety and well being of residents, visitors and tourists is painting a bleak picture for the city and its rise from the ashes.

Yes, many other problems are in need of serious attention. Schools, economic viability, blight, lighting, etc, etc, etc...... but at this point carjackings, homicide, theft, armed robbery, rape and assault are taking their toll on the perceptions and decisions of people who would like to offer assistance and attention to this city.

**Inkadinkado** · September-05-14, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

I wasn't around in the 70's, but I seriously doubt this was true. Downtown Detroit was never an epicenter of crime.

Yeah, the worst neighborhoods back then were more "inner city" than now, because as neighborhoods empty out, the thugs move further out, and the cycle repeats, but downtown was never one of those neighborhoods. It had very few residents.

If anything, I would guess downtown was safer back then, because you had far more pedestrian activity and streetlife.

The perception of folk in the 'hoods during the 70s & 80s was that downtown was safe by comparison because it was awash with police. While not even close to being a credible source, the old JJ & Morning Crew ditty sung by "Coleman Young" echoed this perception with the line that referenced the outsized downtown police presence.

**corktownyuppie** · September-05-14, 12:44 PM

They got these guys on camera. With the amount of attention going into Grand Circus Park as well as DPD's ability to crack cases with far less information, combined with Barbara McQuade and the feds putting carjackers away under federal statutes, I'm pretty confident these guys will eventually get arrested.

**bailey** · September-05-14, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

They got these guys on camera. With the amount of attention going into Grand Circus Park as well as DPD's ability to crack cases with far less information, combined with Barbara McQuade and the feds putting carjackers away under federal statutes, I'm pretty confident these guys will eventually get arrested.

Not sure if it really matters perception wise if these guys get arrested in a few months and get sentenced sometime next year. The problem is tamping down the perception that it's open season in the Green Zone on little white girls unloading their car while moving into their new apartment.

**corktownyuppie** · September-05-14, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

Not sure if it really matters perception wise if these guys get arrested in a few months and get sentenced sometime next year. The problem is tamping down the perception that it's open season in the Green Zone on little white girls unloading their car while moving into their new apartment.

Well, this is a wake up call for Broderick Tower, the Whitney, the Madison, the Kales, and the Fife Buildings. You want $2.00 per square foot? It better be safe to be outside the front door.

There aren't gonna be second chances on this stuff. If they want these developments to succeed, they're gonna need to spend some dough to make it safe, or the whole thing will come crashing down.

**animatedmartian** · September-05-14, 03:49 PM

This is hardly a trend. These guys acted on a spur of the moment. OP news story even says that the perps robbed someone else nearby and saw the nearest opportunity to make a quick getaway. Even the victim talks about how she's worked and walked around downtown for the last 15 years or so and this is the first time she felt unsafe. For the other 115,000 people who spend their time downtown daily, that's some very low odds of being affected by crime.

That Great Guy · September-05-14, 04:56 PM

I was busjacked in Livonia in November 2006

**Lowell** · September-05-14, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

... the Green Zone ...

Too funny. First time I heard that reference.

**Honky Tonk** · September-05-14, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

This is hardly a trend. These guys acted on a spur of the moment. OP news story even says that the perps robbed someone else nearby and saw the nearest opportunity to make a quick getaway. Even the victim talks about how she's worked and walked around downtown for the last 15 years or so and this is the first time she felt unsafe. For the other 115,000 people who spend their time downtown daily, that's some very low odds of being affected by crime.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in Midtown. This is just the first time it's gotten "mass media" exposure.

**SyGolden48236** · September-05-14, 09:08 PM

One has to wonder how much the reporting of crime downtown by the media will be "softened" going forward with the Detroit News & the Free Press having Danny Gilbert as their landlord as well as Channel 7 renting space from him too.

**warsaw7** · September-05-14, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in Midtown. This is just the first time it's gotten "mass media" exposure.

Midtown? Don't you mean downtown?

**stinkytofu** · September-05-14, 09:46 PM

Something went down at Fort/Washington this afternoon...

About eight cop cars and unmarked cars surrounded a car and guns were pulled. They arrested the guy and were looking in his trunk. Probably 30 minutes later a tow truck came and took the perp away [[guessing it was seized with a warrant). When I was leaving work about 15 minutes after that I noticed that Chief Craig was among the 12-15 cops standing there.