Grosse Pointe Shores to Park Pursuit Ends in Double Arrest

Grosse Pointe Shores, Park, Farms and City police officers assisted Monday night in a pursuit down Lake Shore Road that ended with the arrest of two men believed to be responsible for robbing an 85-year-old woman in the parking lot of a St. Clair Shores Kroger.

The pursuit was not particularly fast but rather at a reasonable speed, Shores Det. Sgt. Scott Rohr said. The public safety risk was that the driver of the car repeatedly drove off the roadway onto lawns and sidewalks to avoid being caught by police, he said.

It all started shortly before 7 p.m. when St. Clair Shores police issued a radio call to area departments alerting them to a robbery at the Kroger on 9 Mile and Greater Mack Avenue. St. Clair Shores police shared information about the getway vehicle--an older gold-colored Saturn with a loud muffler, Rohr said.

A Grosse Pointe Shores patrol officer spotted the car on Vernier near Lake Shore and the driver began fleeing before the officer even attempted to make a traffic stop, Rohr said. The officer began pursuing the car with the intent to stop it but it continued driving, he said.

Other Grosse Pointe Public Safety Departments were alerted to the pursuit and officers from the City and the Park put out stop sticks on Lake Shore at Fisher Road and Park officers put sticks out at Cadieux and Jefferson. Before reaching either set, the driver blew one tire by striking the curb at Lake Shore Lane, Rohr said.

At Whittier Road and Jefferson, the passenger jumped out of the vehicle and tried to run. Meanwhile, the driver continued into Grosse Pointe Park. Eventually he stopped his car, which had four flat tires, near Avondale and Westchester and he was arrested, Rohr said.

This morning officers and prosecutors are sorting through the details to determine exactly how the pair should be charged since the robbery happened in St. Clair Shores/Macomb County and the pursuit happened in the Pointes/Wayne County. Prosecutors will have to determine in part, whether the sequence of crimes is consider one or separate events.

If it's considered one event, the men may face all the charges in Macomb County but if it's considered two, they may face charges in both counties.

During the arrest, police searched the car and recovered the stolen property taken from the woman in St. Clair Shores, Rohr said.

In addition, a warrant was issued for the driver to have his blood drawn to determine whether he was operating the car under the influence of drugs. There was drug paraphernalia in the car and the driver made a statement in regards to drugs, Rohr said.

The men are being looked at by several police agencies in connection with similar robberies, Rohr said.

The men were lying in wait in the parking lot in St. Clair Shores, spotted the woman in the parking, backed their car into a spot next to hers and then slammed open their car door into hers, Rohr said. That prompted her to get out to check damage and then they robbed her, he said.

Patch is awaiting more information from St. Clair Shores Police, which is likely this afternoon. Check back for more information later.

There was a variety of chatter about the chase on Facebook and Twitter Monday night and even Tuesday morning, including this video shared with Grosse Pointe Patch by reader Anthony Deluca. The car stopped briefly in his yard on the sidewalk where the passenger jumped out and then the car continued driving.

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