Rash of carjacking incidents hit Detroit's east side

DETROIT - A Detroit man opened fire stopping a suspected car thief in his tracks at an east side gas station.

That incident was just one of three on the city's east side all within a few hours of each other late last night and early this morning.

"I was at gunpoint," said Vaughn Arrington. "I couldn't do anything about it."

Watching his coworker hit in the head with a gun in the passenger seat of this Mustang, Arrington says he felt helpless.

"I wanted to try and get the gun or stop him," he said. "But I had no idea if it was loaded."

Arrington, who is the founder of the non-profit "Team Strength Detroit”, says he was on his way home from a meeting with the community with a coworker. He was driving down Pelkey Street Monday night when he was carjacked.

"Somebody put guns to the top of our heads and made us get out of the car," he said.

Arrington says he was driving a rented Mustang because his car was just broken into. He said the two men were wearing dark hoodies and drove off.

"I was really happy with the police," Arrington said. "They came so quick within 10 minutes."

Detroit police searched for the two men all night until an officer spotted the 2015 Mustang on Greiner speeding away. It crashed after a Nissan clipped the car.

The driver, who matched the description Arrington gave police, ran off.  Police searched for the man with canine units and helicopters but could not find him.

Detroit police sources say another carjacking happened not even two hours after this one, blocks away on Rex and Lappin. The suspect there told the two victims at gunpoint to give him everything or they'd be killed.

Arrington says he understands the mindset these criminals have, after spending 10 years in prison for similar crimes himself.

Police are still searching for the carjackers and are not sure if the two crimes are related.