Mob of Up To 30 Men Suspected In Several Attacks – Detroit
June 5, 2008 by national
Filed under Stories of Interest
Police said 20 to 30 men who brutally attacked and robbed a motorist Saturday night may also be responsible for several other violent crimes that took place the same day.
Four people were taken into custody for questioning after a motorist was beaten unconscious.
Police said the incident took place when Andy Kauffman, 29, and his wife, Angelina, were driving on North River Road when more than two dozen men wearing ball caps and baggy shorts spread out across the street and blocked traffic.
Kauffman tried to drive past them and someone threw a brick in his window. Kauffman stopped his car and got out to see what happened.
“At that point at least 12 of the subjects jumped on him, beating and kicking him several times to the point where he was unconscious,” Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said. “A second man then got out of the car and also was attacked, but not nearly as bad as the first individual.”
A short time later, police were called to a gas station nearby for a fight.
A man who was using the pay phone was beaten. He was not seriously injured, police said.
Police said there were several incidents within a few hours and they fear the same group of attackers was involve
Police are investigating whether a violent group of young men wanted for a series of brutal beatings and robberies in Mount Clemens first assaulted three people attending a nearby carnival.
The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday the trio was punched by a group of males while walking through the carnival at the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens last weekend.
Injuries suffered by the three carnival patrons were not serious, ranging from a black eye to a bloodied lip, Sheriff’s Capt. John Roberts said. There was no indication on the number of assailants.
The assaults occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, less than an hour before a mob of between 20 and 30 young men and teenagers hurled rocks and motorists on North River Road, just west of the entrance to Gibraltar. Two men were attacked – one suffered a skull fracture – when they got out of the vehicle they were riding in after a brick was hurled through a window.
The attackers scattered when deputies responded to 911 calls by witnesses. Investigators suspect members of the violent group later robbed and beat two men outside a Marathon gas station on northbound Gratiot. A short time later, two other men were assaulted and robbed on Main Street in the city’s downtown business district.
The attacks shocked and angered city government and business leaders.
No arrests have been made in connection with the apparently random incidents, as sheriff’s detectives Wednesday continued to investigate leads and review security camera video from businesses in the area while urging the public to provide information leading to the culprits.
“We have had some people contacting us and hopefully we’ll have more,” Roberts said.
At Gibraltar Trade Center, owner Bob Koester said Wednesday he had beefed-up security – including two contracted sheriff’s deputies and two retired police officers – on the property for this year’s popular fair which attracted 35,000 visitors each of the past two weekends.
Koester said he was told one person was punched and that a group of approximately 30 people between the ages of 14 and 25 fled to the woods to the north of the trade center to elude security personnel and police. He said that other than the occasional fistfight, “we have never had an incident occur like this in the past.”
I am a police officer in the inner city. I have a couple of comments. First if the racial make up was reverse there would be marching and protests nation wide. You would see the Rev Sharpton in Mt Clemens protesting but since the victims are white you see nothing. I am not a raciest but this was a raciest crowd! Second your city leaders disbanded the police department to save money. The sheriffs department allocates 1/2 the staffing as the prior police staffing of Mt Clemens PD. How was a mob of 20-30 allowed to roam free for several hours with no police response. We hear the cry of the 911 call but what about the other 911 calls that no one responded too? Your politicians saved money at the expense of its citizens and visitors. Your city is not worth living in if you do not feel safe.
Funny thing about this article is the careful omission of the term GANG. A “group of people”……come on, accept the fact that gangs exist, they are in the area and they made prey of some sheep. What was the driver thinking of when he got out of the car? It’s much less painful to eat crow, drive away and report it, than getting out to supposedly check the damage and become a greater victim. People need to wake up and evaluate the circumstance before they act. Especially in todays environment. He’s lucky to be alive.
Problem is that you let these ppl get away with it. I’m a Michigan native, but moved out when I joined the Navy. Now down here in Virginia, we do not have the problem. Virginia has an open carry law. You want to go armed, no problem, just carry it on your hip. The “crowd” of ppl would have run if I had gotten out of my car armed and ready. Gunfight in the streets? If that’s what it will take to get rid of the animals, so be it. Threaten my life, or those that are with me, your going down, you and your homeboys. We down here, just do not have the problem that is there in Michigan.