Henry Ford parking structure concerns • 45-year career with DPD • Smash and grab at gun shop

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - A recent trip to the doctor put a master home inspector and attorney on high alert because of where he had to park at Henry Ford Hospital’s main campus in Detroit.

"I first (noticed) a column that was cracked on both sides vertically," said Scott Briggs. "(It was so wide) I could actually put something in it."

But that’s not all he noticed - also spying separations between the supports in the garage. 

Briggs says he expressed his concerns to a member of management who allegedly responded, "'This is just a general maintenance issue, we'll just have maintenance or the janitor come out and caulk it,'" he said.

Not satisfied, Briggs used social media to post his frustration which led to responses about another parking garage - the Kresge Parking Deck located on St. Antoine in Detroit.

"(They're) using these temporary jacks to handle a problem until it’s permanently repaired and any of the engineering people would say why aren’t these actually fastened down and they’re not," Briggs said.

He then showed the same issue throughout the garage.

"You have dozens of them through this whole entire structure," he said.

There are also areas where concrete is missing. Briggs said no one should be parking in the structure "when you're needing this many" supports. 

The Fox 2 Problem Solvers got to work contacting Henry Ford Health about its parking structure and the Detroit Medical Center about its structure on St Antoine.

In a statement that reads in part, Henry Ford Health says it’s aware of these concerns and, "We actively and consistently evaluate all our facilities, including parking garages on all our campuses, and are already partnered with a nationally known engineering firm for this ongoing work.

"Our most recent inspection of this garage did not find structure or safety issues. We appreciate when people bring concerns to our attention and take action when necessary."

In a separate statement the DMC said in part:

"The safety of our patients, visitors and staff is our number one priority. The deck located at 4707 St. Antoine, along with all parking structures on our campus, continually undergo proactive maintenance and repairs to ensure they are safe."

After receiving notification about this issues at the parking structures FOX 2 reached out to the city for answers.

"They are definitely structural issues with the parking garages from the pictures that I saw," said Jessica Parker, chief enforcement officer, City of Detroit. "But those are pictures, that's why we send out the inspector to confirm (them) and see exactly where the concerns are."

Parker says the city will send out its own inspectors to gather information and get answers from the property owners.

"If they don’t come into compliance, if they do not submit the required documents, not only will we be issuing tickets we could go to legal at that point," Parker said. 

Attempted smash and grab at Dearborn Heights gun shop

Police are investigating a smash and grab attempt in Dearborn Heights after multiple suspects inside a red passenger vehicle drove through a gun shop entrance.

The two suspects involved can be seen on surveillance camera wandering around inside the building before fleeing the scene. According to police, the suspects left after they realized that the guns were still locked up even after driving through the entance. 

The incident happened around 4 a.m. near Telegraph and Ann Arbor Trail. The manager of Eskoguns, which is located in the 8200 block of Telegraph, said nothing was taken and no one was hurt. However, the impact will require thousands of dollars in repairs and it will be a bit before the store reopens. 

A company will begin boarding up the front of the building later this morning. Police are looking for the two suspects, who used a red Hyundai Sonata passenger car during the robbery attempt. There was no license plate on the vehicle. 

DPD Lt caps off distinguished career with 45 years of service

There was a big celebration – for an even bigger career with Detroit police after 45 and a half years on the job - Lt. Ilaseo Lewis is retiring. "If you love what you're doing, you're never working - well, for the most part, I've enjoyed and loved what I'm doing," he said.

There were mixed emotions – parting with the only life he’s ever known. "I'm happy for him and his family that he gets to spend some time doing something other than being Detroit police," said Chief James White. "He's going to be a big loss for our department."

Lewis started in 1977 and could have retired 20 years ago. Instead, he chose to stay and eventually earning the nickname ‘Old School’ thanks to his crisp uniform. "I wish we could have downloaded his lessons learned onto a computer and shared it with everybody," White said.

From working narcotics to gang squad, to downtown services, where he will leave his post on Wednesday. Lewis was a go-to guy for every minor and major event downtown. He plans to spend more time with his grandkids – the time he could not spend with his own kids, instead keeping the city of Detroit safe.

Read Lewis's parting words here. 

Livonia votes down non-discrimination ordinance

During a Monday meeting at the Livonia City Council, councilmembers voted down a non-discrimination ordinance that would have added LGBTQ+ protections in real estate transactions and housing and employment.

It failed by a 2-5 vote. "What are you saying when you say I don't want a non-discrimination ordinance? What you're saying, tacitly, is that it's OK for people to discriminate," said Peter Dale, who supports the ordinance.

But Councilman Scott Bahr said the ordinance obligates the city to investigate and prosecute discrimination claims "already covered by state and federal laws." City Council President Laura Toy felt the ordinance only added an extra layer of bureaucracy to internal operations in the city. 

The mayor has promised to find other ways to advance non-discrimination policies, but activists say they're already working to put it to another vote, this time to let the people of Livonia decide.

Ancient life, rare plants found in Michigan's sinkholes

Ever wondered what lies inside Michigan's sinkholes? The vertical columns carved out of Michigan's landscape are thousands of years old and hold some curious secrets about what life looked like when glaciers still covered the Great Lakes.

FOX 2 photojournalist Coulter Stuart ventured into some of these sinkholes, which are concentrated in Northeast Michigan, near Alpena. In one sinkhole in a nearby bay, he scuba-dived hundreds of feet down to see the organisms feeding on sulfur at the bottom.

In another, he rappelled into Bruski Sinks, where he recorded a noticeable temperature drop and foliage that doesn't grow anywhere else in the state.

Check out the images and video from the adventure here. 

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

More of the same Thursday as temperatures rise to the low 40s with cloud cover most of the day. It'll look pretty consistent for the next seven days except for the potential snow coming Friday.

What else we're watching

1. A Melvindale man imprisoned in Saudi Arabia during the annual pilgrimage has been freed and is heading home. Mohamed Salem's family got word late Wednesday that he would be on a one-way flight home to Detroit.
2. Wayne County police apprehended a jail escapee hours after the 26-year-old managed to get out of the structure. It's unclear how Tavon Wisdom managed to escape, but he was being held for a domestic violence charge.
3. Detroit public schools is getting $20,000 in musical instruments from Ford Motor Company and the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation as part of an educational program that informs and connects music students with professionals.
4. The Michigan legislature was in session for a last day of the session Wednesday. Outgoing lawmakers said their goodbyes - including a particularly colorful speech from Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, who warned of "one world governance" and threats from the World Economic Forum. He also said he stuck his hand in a toilet.
5. Unsafe driving practices are up, including a 24% increase in drunken driving, AAA reports. Reckless driving has led to nearly 43,000 motor vehicle deaths in 2021, a 10% increase from 2020.

NASA's most requested photo, the ‘Blue Marble', turns 50

It’s an iconic photo of our home planet: The wispy white clouds and ice caps swirling with the blues and tans of the land and sea – all standing in stark contrast to the blackness of space. But you may not know the full story behind this unique view of Earth.

The so-called "Blue Marble" photo was taken 50 years ago on December 7, 1972 during the last Apollo mission to the moon. The Apollo 17 crew – Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Jack Schmitt – were five hours and 18,000 miles into their trip to the moon when one of them took the picture.

NASA credits the whole crew with the photo but Schmitt later said he thought he’d shot the actual image, crediting his 70-millimeter Hasselblad camera equipped with an 80-millimeter Zeiss lens.