Grosse Pointe Park

DDOT bus hijacker Tasered by Park police

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

Park Public Safety officers were instrumental in subduing a man who reportedly attempted to hijack a Detroit Department of Transportation bus after committing a home invasion in Detroit Saturday morning.

A report indicates that Park police received a call around 10:50 a.m. July 21 that a DDOT bus likely headed for the Park border, at Alter and Jefferson, was coming their way on Jefferson. Public Safety Chief David Hiller said his officers saw the bus in question at Jefferson and Chalmers, where police stopped the vehicle but found themselves faced with a “belligerent” man who refused to respond to police commands and is said to have started walking away from them. Hiller said when police tried to stop the suspect, he came at them in a threatening manner.

The Detroit Police Department doesn’t have Tasers, but the Park does, and Hiller said his officers warned the suspect that he would be Tasered if he didn’t surrender. He said the suspect told the officers he knew what a Taser was, but he still wouldn’t comply. The first Taser firing was ineffective because the barbs didn’t penetrate the suspect’s skin far enough, so police performed a “dry” stun to bring down the suspect in a non-lethal way so that he could be arrested, Hiller said. He said the Tasers are “a great tool to have, because they allow us to subdue someone without great physical injury.”

The suspect — a 32-year-old Detroit man — was turned over to Detroit police, who were also on the scene, Hiller said. He said the suspect had committed a home invasion in Detroit just prior to trying to hijack the bus.

Two Park officers were among the police at the scene of what Hiller acknowledged was “a very bizarre type of incident.” The chief is proud of the pivotal role played by members of his department.

“They handled it excellently,” Hiller said. “No one was injured.”

That includes the suspect, who police said is now facing possible charges in Detroit of armed robbery for trying to take over the bus, as well as home invasion. Hiller said the suspect wasn’t armed, but is believed to have suggested that he was during the course of his alleged crime spree.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.