DETROIT (WXYZ) — The videos show violent carjackings at gunpoint. People are attacked, pulled from their cars. Some are punched. One man was shot 3 times and is recovering.
Police in Dearborn, Detroit, and Southfield say they worked together to break a string of at least 7 carjackings over 3 months in those cities. 5 people have been arrested ranging in age from 16 to 25, 4 men and one woman.
“I consider them urban terrorists. They grabbed people at gunpoint out of a car, grabbed a woman by her hair, knocked her to the ground,” Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said at a news conference.
Video from a gas station on 7 Mile in Detroit shows a man pulled from his Dodge Charger and ordered to give up his keys. Police say the two pulling off this robbery arrived in a stolen Dodge Ram pickup.
In another video from a gas station on Greenfield, the owner of a car tries to run away and is chased down, beaten down as another robber gets into the car to drive it away.
Police say it appears they carjacked the vehicles to go joyriding. No cars were sold.
Police also say the car companies assisted with real-time tracking of the stolen cars. The FBI assisted with technology.
Late this afternoon the Wayne County Prosecutor announced 25 felonies were issued against 20-year-old Delano Drake of Detroit. Charges are pending against the other 4.
