Detroit murder suspect turned himself in twice before authorities would arrest him

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: 911 ,; Daily Blotter

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(CBS/AP) DETROIT - A man suspected of fatally shooting two men and seriously wounding two others had to turn himself in twice before Detroit police would arrest him, authorities said.

Detroit police said the 36-year-old man got into an argument at a party on Saturday, retrieved a gun and opened fire. Four people were shot, and two died. The man turned himself in at a fire station about two hours later, and fire officials called police, but no officers turned up.

Police said in a statement that "due to area patrol units being busy handling high priority runs, no units were dispatched to the location."

The man eventually went to a police station, where he was arrested.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee said he has ordered an investigation into why no patrol car was sent to the fire station.

Police should have made "every effort to ensure that this person was taken into custody," he said in the statement sent late Saturday by the department.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens told The Associated Press on Sunday that the department would examine what police units were doing at the time the suspect tried to surrender, including whether they might have been involved in other aspects of the shooting investigation.

Police did not immediately release the name of the suspect or the victims or provide details on the shooting investigation. They said the men who were shot ranged in age from 19 to 37.

Detroit police have undergone serious personnel cuts under Mayor Dave Bing's state-supervised effort to close a large budget deficit and avoid a state financial takeover. The city recently imposed a 10 percent pay cut and 12-hour work day for officers.

Stephens said the police department wouldn't immediately comment on the adequacy of its staffing.

Bing spokeswoman Naomi Patton said Sunday that the mayor's office "had nothing else to say beyond what's in the police statement."

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by anyyname September 3, 2012 7:02 PM EDT: 'busy handling high priority runs'
The police function as de facto quasi secret criminal gangs in probably most jurisdictions, though they typically view themselves as 'the good guys' regardless. When your a narcissistic personality-disordered closet sadist, rationalizing away your own criminal behavior, as well as your like-minded co-workers, comes naturally I suppose.

I know, some cops are good, but if the good ones rarely turn in the bad ones then I'm wondering if 'good' is an accurate description for those that hear, see, and speak no evil. I think 'collusive', 'hypocritical', or , 'selectively prosecuting' would more accurately describe many of the 'good cops' behavior.

An innocent homeless friend of mine was just arrested for panhandling because he happened to be standing too close to another homeless man who was. Who cares? Probably nobody except himself who is now exhausted trying to get a legal education in thirty days to defend his formerly spotless record, not an easy task for anyone, much less a homeless man in his sixties with a prosthetic leg, no car,and no money. If we,as a society don't have the ethics and decency to press a real solution for the disadvantaged, the least we could do is not allow the police to use them as convenient quota-fillers. Maybe the 'good cop' riding with the one falsifying the arrest will come forward with the truth?

Oh well, he's just some hobo. Who cares? Likely no one will, including himself after the 'system' intentionally withholds needed legal rights information while it harasses him unmercifully and possibly even to an early death by mandating 'bonds' and other impossible fees to permit the trial he desperately seeks. 'Good guys'? That's not what I learned to call people who do these types of things. Most people I know call the the people who do these types of things 'criminals'.; Reply to this comment