Accused kidnapper in court • Clinton Twp explosion clean-up begins • Judge handcuffs teen during field trip

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - A 23-year-old man accused of trying to kidnap two children earlier this week will be arraigned on charges stemming from those crimes on Thursday.

"It's every parent's worst nightmare," Sterling Heights Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski said. "This is what they make movies about. It's so incredibly rare, but this is what was happening."

Police said a 7-year-old girl was with her family at Clinton River Park North in Sterling Heights. They were getting ready to leave when the suspect "grabbed her by her hair and carried her to the car real quick," the girl's uncle, Dylan Childers, said.

As the girl's aunt fought with the suspect in an attempt to get her back, the suspect allegedly ran over Childers' 8-year-old son who tried to stop the suspect's vehicle with his bike. 

Scott Vanluven, a volunteer with Citizens on Patrol in Sterling Heights, stopped the suspect and got him out of his vehicle until police arrived.

Police said the abductor is also suspected of trying to kidnap a 15-year-year-old girl in Clinton Township about an hour earlier. A good Samaritan also thwarted that kidnapping attempt.

Clinton Township explosion site clean-up begins

More than five months after a Clinton Township building exploded, sending debris in every direction, the Environmental Protection Agency is starting its clean-up of the site.

The building at 15 Mile and Groesbeck was full of nitrous tanks, butane, lighter fluid, and more than 100,000 vape pens with lithium batteries when the explosion happened in early March. The blast sent debris so far that a 19-year-old man who was about ¼ mile away from the building was killed when he was hit by a canister.

That site has been untouched since the explosion - until now.

"Now it’s just a matter of, is there more you want to investigate in areas that you couldn’t get to before," Township supervisor Bob Cannon said. "Because now they’re going to have equipment out there that can move debris aside."

Cannon said the EPA said the clean-up would take about 100 days.

"They are going to start cleaning up next week, and it’ll probably take some time," he said.

He says the EPA will be on-site beginning Monday.

"It’s undetermined how much it’s going to cost," he said. "I can tell you right now I know for a fact it’s going to be in the millions."

Judge handcuffs teen during field trip

A 16-year-old girl on a field trip to the 36th District Court in Detroit was ordered by a judge to wear handcuffs and a jail uniform as a consequence of falling asleep in his courtroom and allegedly giving him an attitude.

The incident was captured on video by the court, via Zoom.

"You fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m putting you in the back, understood?" Judge Kenneth King told the teenage girl.

The teen was on a field trip with the environmental non-profit Greening of Detroit on Tuesday. King expressed his displeasure with her behavior after she fell asleep twice in the courtroom.

"Why are you being disrespectful to this court?" King said. "You sleep at home, in your bed – not in court. And quite frankly, I don’t like your attitude."

When the judge asked the 16-year-old, "what is your problem?" She responded with, "I apologize, I’m just tired."

King reportedly reached out to the teen's parents, offering mentorship going forward. But as of Wednesday, King and others will not be talking about the incident for legal reasons.

Coast Guard issues warning ahead of Port Huron Float Down

Each summer, thousands head to the St. Clair River for the Port Huron Float Down.

It's almost that time again, but the Coast Guard is discouraging participating, citing a drowning risk.

"It can happen in seconds," said Lieutenant Jr. Grade John Pope, with the U.S. Coast Guard. "We’ve been out there when a big boat comes by in wake. next thing you know, the wake hits their vessel, and they’re taking on water and the vessel is sinking."

About a decade ago, a 19-year-old experienced swimmer drowned during the event. Then in 2016, strong winds and rain swept 1,500 swimmers from the U.S. to the Canadian side of the river.

"Float Down is an unsanctioned marine event," Pope said. "We recommend people don’t partake because it’s inherently dangerous, but if you do choose to partake, we recommend people have a properly-fitted life jacket, that they have a float plan and a form of ID with them."

Landmark sign ordered to be fixed, removed, or replaced

The Pantry in Sterling Heights has been serving up fluffy omelets and pancakes since 1978. But now, it is in danger of losing a landmark that has been standing for nearly five decades.

The owners are being asked by the city to replace, fix, or remove the restaurant's seemingly crumbling sign.

While some people agree that it's time for a change, others say they would hate to see the sign go.

"It doesn’t look that bad," said the co-owner of The Pantry, Michael Moceri.

But the sign, on Van Dyke north of 14 Mile, does look that bad, according to the City of Sterling Heights, who says it is in "disrepair" and a "safety hazard."

To fix the sign, it would cost "about $25,000," Moceri said.

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What else we're watching

1. Desmond Burks, the man accused of murdering Dr. Devon Hoover inside his Detroit home last year, is scheduled to be in court today for a probable cause conference.
2. The Assumption Greek Orthodox Church's annual GreekFest starts today and is going on through the weekend. Learn more here.
3. Douglas Corbea is expected to be sentenced today for the January kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl. The child was found at the 21-year-old's White Lake home two days after she went missing in the winter.
4. A teenager from Adrian remains in a drug-induced coma, fighting for his life, after he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bike last week. Dakota Courington was on his way to a friend's house when a driver hit him and fled.
5. A special fundraiser is being held for a retired K-9 officer in Warren facing the fight of his life. The money raised will help pay for the treatment and recovery costs for Kantor, an 8-year-old German shepherd recently diagnosed with cancer.

Every American's Social Security number, address may have been stolen in hack

After a group of hackers claimed to have stolen personal information several months ago from a data broker, a member of the group reportedly shared most of the sensitive data on an online forum for stolen data.

The data includes 2.7 billion records of personal information from Americans including their Social Security numbers and physical addresses, Engadget reported, citing Bleeping Computer. 

A hacking group called USDoD claimed in April to have stolen personal records from National Public Data in a massive data breach.  The NPD is a platform that offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies and others doing background checks, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

USDoD offered to sell the stolen records, which included personal data for everyone in the US, UK, and Canada, to a forum of hackers. USDoD was seeking $3.5 million for the entire database, but piles of the data have been leaked by various entities.