You saw it first and only here on 7 Action News. Chief investigative reporter Steve Wilson was finally in the driver’s seat, behind the wheel of what may be the most infamous set of wheels in the history of the Motor City. Steve broke this whole story nearly a year ago, and now it looks like the final chapter is drawing to a close.
It’s that Lincoln Navigator, "Carlita’s Car." The $57,000 cherry-red chariot the city acquired for Mayor Kilpatrick’s first lady and his children to be chauffeured around while Detroit lays off city workers, cuts back on everything from trash service to police protection, and faces what some insist is unavoidable bankruptcy.
As you might imagine, after the 7 Action News reports became national news that embarrassed him and threatened his re-election, the Navigator is still a sore subject with Mayor.
He also didn’t want to respond back when 7 Action News investigators first discovered the official city order that clearly called for a "one-year Mayor’s lease of a 2005 Lincoln Navigator" for a whopping $25,000, actually just $5 under that to avoid notice to city council and the public.
Then came the long trail of deception and lies, officials claiming the car was acquired by the police chief for undercover operations.
And when the Mayor himself finally fessed up, he claimed weeks earlier when he first heard about it, that he told the chief it was "too much" and ordered her to return it.
Nobody ever explained why she just ignored her boss and the city then just tried to hide the car, until 7 Action News spotted it being used as a free ride to work for a police big-shot who didn’t like the publicity.
And then, the mayor made everyone a promise on February 22, 2005. "At the end of the day Steve, the way you’ve covered this story, this Navigator won’t cost the taxpayer a solitary penny."
Apparently, the mayor was afraid to unload the car and relieve taxpayers of those $2,000-a-month lease payments month after month. A reliable source told 7 Action News investigative reporter Steve Wilson that his advisors feared the Mayor’s political opponents, or maybe some smart-alleck, promotion-savvy DJs like Drew & Mike, might buy it and drive it around as a reminder that could have seriously crippled, if not killed, his campaign efforts at election time.
And since nobody wanted to be spotted driving the car anymore, the city kept making the payments while it was again stashed away somewhere, until just the other day.
It was on the auction block, after the city finally, quietly, turned it back in to Ford, thinking no one was watching.
It was barely at the auction house before Steve Wilson was there, confirming it was Carlita’s car, still in very great shape.
Steve Wilson told Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, "It had 15 hundred miles on it. It’s cost the taxpayer about $17 a mile. Where have you had it stashed for all that time?"
The mayor responded, "I’m not reliving the Navigator story."
So how did Steve finally get behind the wheel of the ritzy ride?
Investigative reporter Steve Wilson tracked the car to the auction winner, who now has it for sale at this dealership. Wilson showed up there the other day, as a potential buyer, and was offered a test drive.
As far as Steve knew, until the story hit, nobody at the auction had a clue as to the infamous history of the red Navigator.
And how did they explain the low mileage? It was believed that somebody might have died and returned the car to Ford.
And finally, for those who asked whatever happened as a result of a mayoral bodyguard shoving Steve Wilson against a wall in Washington?
Detroit police say they conducted "a full investigation." Only what action, if any, that was taken has been deemed confidential.
The cop involved remains with the mayor, and a year later, his honor’s bloated security detail is using the same tactics to protect him from issues he doesn’t want to face.
In the wake of 7 Action News’ reports, there was a news release, not from the mayor, but from the Police department and the same Public Information Deputy who provided false information from the get-go.
The release says the city ultimately wasted $25,000 on the Navigator because of "irrelevant and redundant news coverage" that forced it to be worthless to the police or the mayor, all due to that "gratuitous publicity by certain media outlets."
