Scott Lewis's Car Broken into in front of Court

**reddog289** · September-22-10, 01:47 PM

Having dealt with the parking issues at that court, I can say it is not a good situation. I was told that the old juvy court was going to be torn down as well as the old juvy jail. If so then they should do it and build a parking lot. But maybe the present sparking situation helps keep the juvy court in business.

**gazhekwe** · September-22-10, 01:58 PM

I was giving two talks last fall, one at Juvy and one at Wayne County Jail. I parked at the Casino garage. Before that was built I used to park in the Greektown garage. I don't remember a time when parking on the street wouldn't result in a likely break-in. Iearned many years ago not to park where the Detroit diamonds line the curb lane.

**Hypestyles** · September-22-10, 02:21 PM

tear down the juvenile court.?. and the projects...?

**jbd441** · September-22-10, 02:49 PM

Here how to stop it. Remember when the FedEx executive's kid was caned in Singapore in 1994. Maybe we can go a step further and have a thief's finger cut off everytime he or she's convicted.

**fanniemae** · September-22-10, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by R8RBOB

That had to suck knowing that there were eyewitnesses to the act [[namely S. Lewis) and there was no mention of a call to 911 to report a robbery in progress. The police may not had gotten there in time but at least Mr. Lewis could have made an effort to stop these punks cold by getting the cops there but he was most concerned with getting his news story completed.

I was in a hurry this morning and typed " persons" instead of purses. My bad. I am wondering if some of the news staff was watching the cars, Lewis not around. The staff still could have yelled at the thieves to take a hike, unless the staff was afraid. Come to think of it, you never know if these thugs have a weapon. I still think though the camera people could have done something.

**daddeeo** · September-22-10, 03:01 PM

There's plenty of space to stick criminals if they had more money to spend on them.
Robert Scott facility on Beck Road still has the razor wire in tip top shape.

**swingline** · September-22-10, 03:14 PM

This is an interesting test for the no snitch culture. Channel 7 could press the issue by broadcasting the pictures of the two young men several times in prime time as a public service announcement. If that doesn't shake loose a positive identification, well, then at least some pastors will have a good topic for an upcoming Sunday sermon.

**BagAJellyDonuts** · September-22-10, 03:15 PM

Doesn't matter what pictures they have. Nobody is going to turn these guys in. It's worse to be a snitch than to live with scum like this. I also would say that chances are, these aren't the only bozos playing this game. And that if any of these "good boys" do get caught, they will just be back at it as soon as they get back out.

Can't say that punishment fits the crime. The real problem is punks like this just don't care. They don't want to work. Don't want to learn. And we don't want them around. Too bad the days of exile islands are over.

**xphillipjrx** · September-22-10, 03:28 PM

It is the same all over. I live in Chicago. Two weeks ago a kid in a stolen car made a left turn going too fast and he smashed four other cars. His car was smashed and immobile right in the middle of the street. [[Drexel & 54th, five blocks from Obama's house). The kid grabbed a box from the trunk and walked away as if he parallel parked the car. I saw a bunch of kids standing around the box in a park two blocks away. I directed the responding officers to the park. The kids were gone, but the box was still there. The cops grabbed the box, put it back in the trunk of the car and waited for the tow truck to arrive. I thought the cops would fingerprint the car or the box, but one of them said, "Nah, we only do that if somebody gets injured".

Unfortunately they have bigger fish to fry.

Bearinabox · September-22-10, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by gazhekwe

I was giving two talks last fall, one at Juvy and one at Wayne County Jail. I parked at the Casino garage. Before that was built I used to park in the Greektown garage. I don't remember a time when parking on the street wouldn't result in a likely break-in. Iearned many years ago not to park where the Detroit diamonds line the curb lane.

We're talking about the building on Forest and the Chrysler service drive, right? Bit of a hike from there to the casino.

EastSider · September-22-10, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by Bearinabox

We're talking about the building on Forest and the Chrysler service drive, right? Bit of a hike from there to the casino.

Juvenile Hall is next to the Greektown Casino hotel.

**swingline** · September-22-10, 04:47 PM

The court in question is next to the old juvenile detention facility near the Chrysler Service Drive and Forest. East side of the freeway.

Bearinabox · September-22-10, 04:56 PM

Well, now I'm thoroughly confused.

**gazhekwe** · September-22-10, 06:30 PM

Me too. I was at the one next to Greektown.

**R8RBOB** · September-22-10, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Bearinabox

Well, now I'm thoroughly confused.

The old Juvenile hall/court is located on Chrysler and Forest. The facility located in Greektown built in the late 90's is where they hold the juveniles. Scott Lewis was at the court doing his story.

**Hypestyles** · September-23-10, 03:20 PM

...on the radio today, I hear the next story from Lewis is an interview with Charles Pugh, from the radio ad it seems to allege that there is some kind of "secret Fund" that Pugh manages or is in his name, and dialogue can be heard that allegedly strip-club owners have contributed to it.. anybody know what Lewis is getting at? is this about Pugh's official campaign fund?

**Lowell** · September-23-10, 05:53 PM

I'm with fanniemae and others on this one. I don't know about the rest of you but I find this troubling and unethical journalism. They calmly filmed this event then waited around for the victims to return to interview them and, well, use the pathos of that moment to make money.

It will be very difficult to convince me they could not have stopped those poor women from losing their purses. If they had simply started yelling from the safety of their distance those kids would have split. Especially when doofus number 1 was stuck inside the car. They would have panicked. I've done with others. It works.

The tv station should apologize to the victims, pay for the broken window and their stolen property and put out a $10000 reward for the perps.

**spiritofdetroit** · September-23-10, 06:16 PM

I guarantee if Scott Lewis had gone to DPD and said here's the story, this is whats happening, come on a stakeout with us for awhile, an officer wouldve grabbed these guys the second the thugs broke the window. Pathetic story.

**RYANGUARD** · September-23-10, 07:34 PM

As I work from time to time at Detroit Receiving Hospital,I have noticed for at least 4 years piles of "Detroit Diamonds" in front of and on the side of the James H.Lincoln Hall of Juvenile Justice on the northbound I-75 service drive just before Warren Avenue.This is nothing new but apparently since Scott Lewis had his car broken into,it now is.Hopefully something good will come out of this since it has been an ongoing problem for YEARS!Even placing your valuables in the trunk of your car is no deterrent either,as shown by the news clip.By placing these delinquents faces on television hopefully they will be caught and prosecuted.But most likely things will die down,these thugs will lay low for a while and the heat will blow over and they will resume their criminal activities.Working in a prison gives a lot of insight into how the system works in this terrible economy.Even facing prison won't stop this type of criminal activity.Unless they place some type of police presence around JHLHOJJ this is going to continue,sad to say.....

**pffft** · September-23-10, 08:28 PM

Until things get better...this points out something I watch out for when parking in the city. Not only should you not have anything out in the open in your car, even something innocuous [[to you), but don't get out and lock valuables in the trunk. They're watching you. The time to lock valuables into your car is where nobody can see you do it...

**royce** · September-23-10, 10:23 PM

Poor urban planning also contributes to the problem. Why is it that there's no secured parking lot for visitors to the court, knowing the "projects" are right across the street? I know trying to tear down federally funded housing projects is difficult, but there was a time recently when these public housing units were being renovated. A decision should have been made then to tear down the units near the court and build a secured parking lot. That would have eliminated the theft we saw on Scott Lewis's report.

**56packman** · September-23-10, 11:03 PM

Just shoot the perps. Rock salt in a shotgun first, real ammo later if they don't learn. The DPD won't come in time to catch anyone. Scott knows that, and saved his breath.

EastSider · September-24-10, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by royce

Poor urban planning also contributes to the problem. Why is it that there's no secured parking lot for visitors to the court, knowing the "projects" are right across the street? I know trying to tear down federally funded housing projects is difficult, but there was a time recently when these public housing units were being renovated. A decision should have been made then to tear down the units near the court and build a secured parking lot. That would have eliminated the theft we saw on Scott Lewis's report.

You wouldn't have to tear down the projects to increase the parking. The old youth home stands next to the court. The county could raze that.

**rooms222** · September-24-10, 08:33 AM

We have secured parking with guards, signs, CCTV, and fencing in Detroit, and we have experienced a rash of broad daylight smashed window thefts in the last six months, where they were only occasional and intermittent in the past. I have worked at this location for over a decade, and it has never been like this before.

Times are bad and thievery is more and more brazen....

**smogboy** · September-25-10, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

I'm with fanniemae and others on this one. I don't know about the rest of you but I find this troubling and unethical journalism. They calmly filmed this event then waited around for the victims to return to interview them and, well, use the pathos of that moment to make money.

It will be very difficult to convince me they could not have stopped those poor women from losing their purses. If they had simply started yelling from the safety of their distance those kids would have split. Especially when doofus number 1 was stuck inside the car. They would have panicked. I've done with others. It works.

The tv station should apologize to the victims, pay for the broken window and their stolen property and put out a $10000 reward for the perps.

I know that it might not have been effective at all but the very least that Scott Lewis could do while this robbery was happening in front of them was to call the cops. I'd like to think that would at least be somewhat ethical and be the moral thing to do. I agree with you Lowell that the ladies post theft misery was used as exploitation of the story. We get it already! It's a crime happening- I really didn't think that we needed to see the ladies in their anguish to punch the idea home that it was a crime.