By CHRIS JACKETT
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Criminals who get away with a theft often have a well-thought out plan, while those without typically are caught.
The latter was the case Nov. 7 when a 28-year-old man robbed a cab driver after getting a ride about 4:45 a.m.
The 41-year-old Checker taxi driver picked up a man from the 3200 block of Calvert in Detroit and transported him 10 miles to the Henry Hotel, 300 Town Center Drive. Once they arrived and the suspect was told the fee, he put his right hand on the left breast of his light brown military-style camouflage jacket and said, “I have a gun. Give me all of your money and I won’t hurt you.”
Fearing for his life, the driver gave the man $127.
After the suspect ran west from the hotel, the driver followed in his car until he lost sight of the suspect when the man ran into a white moving truck in the east parking lot of Extended Stay Hotel, 260 Town Center Drive.
When police arrived, a K-9 unit tracked the suspect to the east door of the hotel. Hotel security said the entrance is accessible only to someone with a room key. All other nearby hotel doors were locked.
The suspect had told the taxi driver he was staying at a hotel because his family’s house had burned down. A hotel staff member recalled a man and his family had been renting out two rooms for more than a week for the same reason.
Police went to one of the two rooms and spoke with a 32-year-old woman, who said she had an argument with her boyfriend, and that he had left about 4 p.m. Nov. 6. She said she had not seen him since, but that their children were staying in the neighboring room.
She said she was by herself, but allowed police to enter and search the room. Upon entering, officers observed her boyfriend hiding in the bed under the sheets. He did not move when officers identified themselves, so they took the sheets off him and told him to get up.
The girlfriend said she told officers she was by herself because she had called police regarding their earlier argument and she was afraid they were coming to get him, although dispatch had no record of such a call.
When questioned, the man told police he had wandered around the Town Center until about 4:30 a.m. He also told police he didn’t own a jacket, but had been walking around in long johns.
He took officers to check on the other room where the children were, and a camouflage jacket matching the taxi driver’s description was found on the floor. The man admitted it was his jacket, but said it did not match the officers’ description because it was gray, not brown.
The man’s record showed additional outstanding warrants from Ypsilanti, so he was arrested. His belongings, which included no cash, were tagged as property.
(Contact Chris Jackett at [email protected])