ROSEVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) — After Thursday’s close call in Detroit of a man repossessing a woman’s car and then being shot at multiple times, accredited repossession companies across metro Detroit are saying the violence needs to stop.
"He was laying across the side trying to duck down, not knowing, I mean that bullet just went past his head," owner of Tolmite Recoveries, Brian Tolstedt said.
Tolstedt has been in the repossession business for years. He says while he has never lost any employees on the job, there have been some close calls. That includes Thursday's shooting on Detroit's east side where his employee was nearly struck by bullets.
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“He’s doing well, thankfully, I mean he’s lucky," Tolstedt said. “It probably grazed his hair, knocked the hat off his head.”
Tolstedt says that after grabbing the vehicle, his employee pulled over a few blocks away to secure it fully. That’s when the shots rang out. Just the day before, two of his other workers were picking up a vehicle in a church parking lot in Eastpointe, with similar results. The owner of the vehicle shot at them one time.
“We have seen more violence in the last five years in our industry than we have in all of our years combined," Jenny Liagre, owner of Rockwood Recovery Inc., said.
Repo companies all across metro Detroit say the violence is escalating to a level they’ve never seen before. Liagre says bullet holes in her vehicles are a common occurrence.
"It’s absolutely crazy," she said.
In Detroit, after the shots were fired, police patrolling the area fired back, striking the woman. Both the repo driver and the woman are expected to be okay. However, the injuries and deaths are alarming to these local companies.
"We have lost three employees...to gun violence," owner of Midwest Recovery & Adjustment George Badeen said.
Badeen has been in the business for decades; he's been shot at, harassed, and unfortunately, it's a cycle that doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
"We would like to see it changed," Badeen said.
Many of these employees wear bulletproof vests and have body and vehicle cameras. However, in the state of Michigan, they cannot carry a weapon on behalf of the company to defend themselves. So, despite hours of de-escalation training, they say this problem can only be fixed by the legal system.
“I think there needs to be a little bit better work done on the prosecution side of things. There needs to be a clear message sent out that if you commit an illegal act, there will be actions taken against you," Tolstedt said.
Meanwhile, Detroit Police are continuing to investigate Thursday's incident.
“It is not okay to shoot at the repossession agent; he is just doing his job," Liagre added.
