Victim of a crime

**exdetroiter** · May-04-09, 01:34 PM

Has anyone had a family member murdered in Detroit or has anyone ever been robbed in Detroit. If so, did the cops solve the crime? In both sceanrios all they've ever done for me is investigate the matter only for me to never hear from them again.

**terryh** · May-04-09, 01:44 PM

Back around 95-96 I walked in on a robbery in progress and was robbed in a house on Adeline in the State Fair neighborhood, but it was a consequence of the lifestyle I was living. Long story.

I dont trust the police in Detroit and am just as, if not more concerned about an encounter with them as I would be about Joe stickup on the street...

**ejames01** · May-04-09, 03:48 PM

I was a victim of armed robbery in Highland Park in 1989. I made a police report, but nothing ever resulted from it.

**raptor56** · May-04-09, 03:59 PM

Unfortunately, with most random acts of violence, unless the cops are there when it happens, no one is going to get caught. What's the number one mugger description in Detroit? black male, about 6 feet tall, short curly hair, wearing a jacket and some form of hat. If I was a cop looking to question people, I could question half the City of Detroit on that description. They take your info, and if they see a trend, they might investigate.

**professorscott** · May-04-09, 04:26 PM

The only time someone tried to actually rob me, in the sense of walking up with a weapon drawn and demanding money, I was with a guy that was built like a tree and the would-be robber was a 13 year old [[or so) kid. So I didn't even report it - my friend and I gave him a lecture and confiscated his knife, and he went away - so we won't count that.

Other than that though: two home burglaries, two stolen cars, two thefts from a parked car, and no police response whatever to any of it beyond filing a report. Welcome to Detroit.

**patmc16** · May-04-09, 06:05 PM

Back in 1971, my mom was robbed twice in the same week somewhere near their house on Coplin near Jefferson. I don't know if anything ever came of it as it was before my time. I do know it was the last straw. My parents and siblings moved to the burbs shortly after, remaining crime free for about 25 years until my mom's car was stolen from the driveway in '96 or '97. My dad bought the first house he looked at just to get out [[a fact my mom lamented until her death in '00). He still lives there [[my childhood home) now.

LodgeDodger · May-04-09, 06:51 PM

My Uncle was murdered in the sixties. The guy was caught and spent a number of years in prison.

**thnk2mch** · May-04-09, 07:08 PM

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**Django** · May-04-09, 07:38 PM

Sorry to hear about your Uncle Dodger.

Our house on the East side was burglarized middle of the day. While my girl dealt with the cops I went straight to the pawn shop called Als Loan Office on Gratiot and told them what kind of laptop I was "looking to buy". They brought out my girls new HP with the screen saver of our dogs still on it. I told them I might also be looking for a Mac [[the other laptop that was stolen) and he got nervous and shut me out.

We repeatedly were in contact with the police trying to find out who stole the HP but no luck. We had to buy back the HP for $200, the price Als Loan Office at 2309 Gratiot, paid the thief. The Mac I believe was also sold there but when the clerk saw I was onto his bs he kept his mouth shut and let the police do whatever it is they do. After confronting the clerk about the Mac a fellow employee soon rushed out of Als Loan Office with a small bag about the size of our Mac and placed it in his car, he then went back to work at Als Loan Office at 2309 Gratiot.

Im a little familiar with pawn shops and you have to produce valid state ID to pawn something in the very event that the item was stolen. When asking the boys about this They just kept giving us the run around over and over until we gave up.

Ive only been mugged once, in the corridor. He got $4, brand new pack of Pall Malls, and my buck knife. I remember telling him as he walked off, "come on man, at least leave me my smokes, you smoke menthol's anyway dont ya?"

**Prodigal_Son** · May-04-09, 09:10 PM

We've had two cars stolen. One was found by the police the next day, which was encouraging. Less encouraging was the fact that the thief was written up for Grand Theft Auto and possession of marijuana.

The dude stole my freaking car. Do you really think I care what he was smoking? Overzealous drug enforcement in the city is a joke.

**Detroitej72** · May-04-09, 09:35 PM

I had my car stolen 6 years ago from 6 Mile and Stahalin. My buddy and I drove around for a couple hours searching for it, then I finally went to the police station to file a report. It turns out that Detroit's Finest had found my car already, about an hour earlier. Props to the DPD for a job well done.

The only things that were missing was a couple of my Cure CDs, which I think the towing company probably helped themselves to, since I'm sure the thieves don't like The Cure!

The kids who stole it were 12 and 14 years old. When I went to court, one of the little angel's moms asked me "what were you doing in Detroit anyway", since as a white man, I guess I'm not supposed to be here. I could see how they thought stealing wasn't a big deal after that warm welcome by their parent.

About two months later, a 14 year old with the same name as my thief was driving a stolen Jeep that was being chased by the police. While turning a corner at a high speed, the Jeep rolled over and the kid was thrown from the vehicle and killed. I always wondered if it was the same punk who stole my car.

**thnk2mch** · May-04-09, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by thnk2mch

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

What the heck was that^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^?

I tried to post from a Blackberry for the first time.....

Anyways, my son was robbed at gunpoint about two years ago in a parking lot. They took his and his friend's wallets, cash, cell phones etc. - and my sons car keys to the car he was driving at the time. As the robbers took off, they threw his keys across the lot. All of this was reported - haven't heard a word after that.

**g-dub** · May-04-09, 09:40 PM

I once made the mistake of hanging my jacket up at the Bronx, on the busiest night I'd ever seen there. At the end of the night the jacket was gone. It was a cheap jacket, so I didn't much care, except that my keys and cell phone were in it. So I walk the two blocks to my car, which had been left at the parking lot at Forest & 3rd. I see what looks to be my car, same make, model and color, in the spot I had, but I notice the hubcaps are different and I quickly figure out what had happened: whoever took the jacket must have walked all around the neighborhood trying the key, found my car, stole it, and in the interim the exact same type of car pulled into my space.

So, the next morning I get a rental [[which insurance paid for) and make the report. I remembered that I had left a movie from Blockbuster under the passenger seat that I hadn't yet returned, so I called Blockbuster to tell them it was gone and to find out how much I owed. The clerk looks up the movie in the system and asks me to hold on for a minute, then gets back on the phone and tells me that the movie was returned to a Blockbuster in Highland Park. The effing car thief returned my movie! Gee, what a saint.

Then, a couple days later I get a call from a detective in Rockwood, a town downriver that I had actually never heard of. He tells me they have my car, that they caught the guy speeding down I-75, apparently on his way to visit his dad in Ohio. It was a 25-year-old homeless dude, who suddenly found himself some wheels, and thought he'd take a road trip, which for whatever reason involved speeding in a stolen car. I went down there, got my cell phone back, which had some girls names and numbers programmed on it--dude must have picked some ladies while cruising in my fly mid-90s Mazda Protege. I had told the detective about the movie rental return over the phone, and he told me at the station that he'd asked the guy about it, and the guy told him "I didn't want to ruin his life." Bwahahahaha.

The guy ended up serving a couple months, then, as the detective later told me took off and left the state. It was worth the ordeal, just for the story and to have flushed that one piece of shite out of Detroit. But I almost wished they had never found it. I was looking forward to a check from the insurance company and a new car. The Protege went ahead and died a year later anyway.

**jackie5275** · May-04-09, 09:43 PM

My brother in law was carjacked about 12 yrs ago in the New Center area. DPD never found the car, but he did. He found in that auto auction place near 5 Mile & Telegraph. He bought the car back at the auction. He found papers to indicate who stole it. He turned them over to DPD, but nothing was done.

**terryh** · May-04-09, 10:49 PM

I was in Record Graveyard about a year ago when I met a couple who was in the process of recovering a stolen record collection being sold off in lots at various local record shops..the owner had the inherited collection stored in an empty home in the Boston Ediso district.

**cb79** · May-05-09, 01:13 AM

A friend of mine had his car stolen a coupe of years ago in the Eastern Market area, car was recovered by dpd within 2 days.

A friends sister was murdered for her car in sw about 7 years ago, the killer fled town but was later brought to justice about 1 month later thanks to good Detroit police work.

My car has been broken into about 7 times in different spots of the city, I've filed reports twice for insurance reasons, cops never caught the guy[[s).

Detroit PD has a bad rep, maybe partially due to corruption, incompetence, indifference, _____ insert reason for blame. But possibly more so due to staffng and budget shortfalls. Often calls are prioritized as there's no better way, the more serious in nature are moved to the top of the list, while your call about your obnoxious neighbor is repeatedly bumped down the list, often never responded to because they never had time. In any profession there will be problematic poeple, those who abuse their power, blatant laziness, complainers, etc.. But I don't believe that the Detroit Police has that problem as a majority, and I really think don't get nearly as much credit as they deserve.

**Prodigal_Son** · May-05-09, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by cb79

A friend of mine had his car stolen a coupe of years ago in the Eastern Market area, car was recovered by dpd within 2 days.

A friends sister was murdered for her car in sw about 7 years ago, the killer fled town but was later brought to justice about 1 month later thanks to good Detroit police work.

My car has been broken into about 7 times in different spots of the city, I've filed reports twice for insurance reasons, cops never caught the guy[[s).

Detroit PD has a bad rep, maybe partially due to corruption, incompetence, indifference, _____ insert reason for blame. But possibly more so due to staffng and budget shortfalls. Often calls are prioritized as there's no better way, the more serious in nature are moved to the top of the list, while your call about your obnoxious neighbor is repeatedly bumped down the list, often never responded to because they never had time. In any profession there will be problematic poeple, those who abuse their power, blatant laziness, complainers, etc.. But I don't believe that the Detroit Police has that problem as a majority, and I really think don't get nearly as much credit as they deserve.

I agree. Every experience I've had with the police has been positive. Racial profiling is a problem, but that stretches throughout the justice system, not just the cops.

gravitymachine · May-05-09, 07:18 AM

my girlfriend's car was stolen last fall, we filed a report, but it never turned up in 30 days so she got her insurance check. it was a 90's civic so it was probably chopped out pretty damn quick. the whole thing reminded of the part in the big lebowski where "the dude" asks the cop if they have any leads...

sorry for the personal losses mentioned in here, those crimes are obviuosly more serious and high priority than auto theft.

**mclark** · May-05-09, 07:42 AM

The only time I got mugged was leaving a "rave" about 10 years ago off Livernois and Davison. It was like 4am, and I walked 2 blocks to my car, by myself. The robber had a gun in his hoodie pocket with the handle hanging out. He actually apologized and said he didn't want to hurt me and didn't want my wallet, just my cash. Since I didn't have to worry about my credit or ATM card, or renewing my driver license, I didn't bother filing a report. I was pretty much asking for it anyway.

**exdetroiter** · May-05-09, 08:00 AM

I don't think the DP really cares about solving crimes or arresting criminals unless they actually catch them in the act. My house was burgalarized, it was obviously kids because the took multiple gaming systems, rather than furs that were lying out. The police came out, searched my home to make sure they were gone, took a report of the missing items, noticed foot prints in the snow from my backyard to the neighbors side door. A day later they sent someone out to dust for finger prints and I haven't heard a word from them since. It was so obvious whom committed they crime and although it was in excess of $4000 in items including a registered gun. They haven't come up with diddle swat.

**ThaFuzz** · May-05-09, 08:52 AM

The eastside home I was living in was burglarized a little over a year ago. Two patrol officers, two detectives, a lieutenant/captain and forensics showed up. The homeowner had connections. The forensics sergeant admitted as much as he was dusting for fingerprints, said "We usually don't do this for burglaries, but your roommate..."

**exdetroiter** · May-05-09, 09:04 AM

If they usually don't brush for fingerprints, I wonder what made me so special?

**slick** · May-05-09, 10:25 AM

When I lived in Detroit, 1994, had the house B & E. Neighbors saw the bad guy, chased to no avail, but he left his car on the street. Cops towed it, they found the guy a few weeeks later, walking in the neighborhood. Career 2 bit B and E guy, white male, 6 ft, etc.

Went to the prosecutor, stamped repeat offender all over the file.
Go to court, he plea bargains down to one B and E, goes to prison, up to 2 years.
I am still on the Victims list, this guy is in and out of prison for 2 years, gets out then caught again for B and E.

The probation officer says nice guy just dumb.
Last name Skiles, paper work at home. last I heard he was on probation since March of this year.

**m3h.shallal** · May-05-09, 10:46 AM

When i lived on Willis between Woodward and John R, i had multiple friends get there car broken into. Also had my bike stolen in Greektown while at work. Currently i live in Woodbridge and havent had any problems however i have had friends mugged in woodbridge.

I feel when people talk about Detroit and crime they talk about it like its the whole city. Which i feel is incorrect. Some parts have high crime rate while others have very low mid-town being one of them. Don't forget the density of the city will also always equal more crime.

Its a problem when you have news reports and people talking about ALL of Detroit having high crime, its absurd and false.

detmich · May-05-09, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Prodigal_Son

We've had two cars stolen. One was found by the police the next day, which was encouraging. Less encouraging was the fact that the thief was written up for Grand Theft Auto and possession of marijuana.

The dude stole my freaking car. Do you really think I care what he was smoking? Overzealous drug enforcement in the city is a joke.

This may be the dumbest post I have ever read.