Woman says Detroit police delayed response to her carjacking
DETROIT (WJBK) - The 911 call came in just before 8 p.m. Monday night, by a woman reporting she had been carjacked.
The stolen car belongs to Jackie Reed. She says she and her boyfriend were at the U.S.A. Petrol gas station on Chalmers and Kercheval when it happened.
“He pulled it like this and said, ‘Get out now’ or something like that. I really didn't hear, all I heard was get out now, I saw him, I saw fear, I got out of the car. I saw a gun,” said Reed.
The 2002 Ford Focus is gone, along with all the Christmas presents Reed says she planned to give her kids.
“I have no car now. I work on the west side. My kids go to school on the west side. What am I supposed to do now?”
She blames police for not responding sooner, saying they didn’t respond until after 10 p.m.
Our sources with Detroit Police tell us they have reason to believe this was not a carjacking because it’s possible no guns were involved. They say Reed may have made that claim to get a quicker response.
“It came in as a priority two, because it came in as a carjacking that had already happened. The people are gone. The other variable in this one, is that the complainant had walked home to their residence and then called police,” said Assistant Chief James White of the Detroit Police Department.
Police say some other parts of the story are inconsistent.
“The facts are not as reported in this incident preliminarily. We are looking at a number of different factors. Specifically, how the vehicle was taken, if anyone was in the vehicle when it was taken.”
Assistant Chief James White says oftentimes in the city, when people call for service, they say guns are involved to get a quicker response.
“They do know how we tree out our runs. So if I say there's a gun, the police are going to get here quicker. There are a lot of different concerns with that. I think it puts the citizens at risk. I think it puts the community at risk. We are now going code 3 lights and sirens through the community.”
Reed still insists there was a gun, and that even though she went home to make the call, she returned to the gas station to wait for police.
“I'm over the police because this happened at 7:30 p.m. I left my house around 8:30 p.m. I was waiting for the police to get here. I went back to the gas station and they came three hours later.”
Surveillance images taken at the gas station show the man Reed says stole the car.
“We would like somebody to please help turn him in. He's taking Christmas from kids, and I feel like that's not right.”
If you have any information, call Detroit Police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP.