Carjacking, Kidnapping, Shootout In Roseville
SAINT CLAIR SHORES (WWJ) - A 21-year-old Sterling Heights man faces carjacking a kidnapping charges after leading police on a chase that ended in a shootout.
Police in Saint Clair Shores were alerted to a van stolen in a carjacking in Detroit. When they tried to pull it over, it sped off toward Roseville, where the man allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend late Sunday night at a gas station at 13-Mile Road and Little Mack. Officers in Roseville joined the chase which ended with the early model Pontiac Montana crashed in the Gratiot/Martin area.
Roseville Police Chief Micheal Pachla says officers gave chase with the suspect through backyards of homes. Officers took cover when the suspect brandished a pistol. A police K-9 unit was called in, which picked up a scent at a residence with another van in the driveway. Fog in the windows indicated to officers someone may be inside.
"They (officers) opened the rear door to look inside...there's clothing inside the van, said Pachla. "When they opened the passenger side. They sold the individual lying on the floor covered in clothing." Officers ordered the man to show his hands, but only produced his left. When they ordered him the show his other hand, he came out with a gun and fired at officers who were not hit.
Police returned fire, striking the man several times.
He was taken to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Warren with serious injuries.
Micheal Martin, a two truck driver for Fraser Police was following the action, calling it scary. "What I hear, he was going to go down in a blaze of glory," he said. "That's what the girlfriend told police."
The unidentified suspect may also be wanted in Shelby township on home invasion charges.
Martin and other residents say this has never happened in their neighborhood, which they describe as quiet.
Carla Sansos was awakened by a pounding on the door at 12:30 Monday morning. "(Police) were running down the street and we heard 'bang bang bang," she said. "I've haven't gone to bed since. My (19-month old) son has been crying since. Pretty terrifying.....pretty terrifying."
The 21-year-old kidnapping victim, a Roseville woman was not hurt.
