SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Four armed suspects are behind bars following a violent home invasion in Sumpter Township that began just before 10:30 Thursday night.
Police say the suspects ambushed a homeowner and another victim as they were cleaning out their garage. Two of the men carried long guns and two had pistols. The homeowner was pistol-whipped, handcuffed, and held at gunpoint while the suspects used Google Translate to demand cash and weapons. The homeowner said none of the men spoke English.
One of the victims was on FaceTime with a friend when the attack began. That friend immediately called 911, sending officers to interrupt the robbery in progress.
All four suspects initially fled on foot after officers arrived. Three were quickly taken into custody. The fourth was tracked down Friday morning after Sumpter Township resident Jason Doyle spotted a man creeping out of the woods with a car slowly pulling up to meet him.
"He came out of the woods. That car was creeping up, and he, as soon as he got it, he jumped in, and I saw that, and I'm like, 'that's gotta be him,'" Doyle said.
Doyle had recognized the scene as suspicious and acted quickly.
"He was all ducked down, and I was like, that's gotta be him. I told my wife, give me my phone and give me my keys. I'm like, time to put this 6.2 Denali to work cause I had to chase him down," Doyle said.
Doyle helped police track down the suspect and a getaway driver connected to the home invasion.
Neighbor Landon Hall said he had no idea how serious the situation was until the following morning.
"I thought what I thought what it was was like a party, but like it didn't like come to me like why would grown men run from a party or whatever and then I found out what happened," Hall said.
Township Trustee Tim Rush was at the police station and witnessed one of the suspects being booked.
"I made eye contact when they were pulling the fourth suspect out of the vehicle, and this was a bad dude, man," Rush said. "This guy raised the hair on the back of my neck up, man."
The home invasion comes just weeks after voters rejected a public safety millage in the August primary. Without that funding, the police department faces losing more than 40% of its budget. Township officials are now placing the measure back on the November ballot.
"If you don't have security in your home and your well-being, what do you have? And one of the other things people don't realize. You're having a stroke or a heart attack, EMS and our fire department, they're not coming in until there's a police officer there to secure the scene," Rush said.
With all four suspects now in custody, police are wrapping up their investigation before handing the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for a charging decision.
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