A group of looters were caught trashing a gas station in Detroit, stealing seemingly everything they could carry out the doors.
Caught on tape, that is. No one has been arrested. The store manager is so fearful of it happening again, he asked that WJBK-TV, which first aired the full video, not to reveal his name or the gas station's location.
The manager told the local Fox affiliate that the commotion started when he asked a young man to leave the store around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. This apparently enraged the customer, who swiped everything off the counters and began banging on the bulletproof glass separating the clerk from the commotion in the store. That's when more people began entering the gas station and leaving with their arms full of stolen food and merchandise. Some people were caught on camera even coming back for a second trip. Outside, a man tried to throw a brick through the glass doors.
"What's running through your mind as this is happening?" Fox 2 asked the store manager during the interview.
"This is the city of Detroit," he replied.
The store manager told Fox 2 that incidents like these are more common than some people would like to believe. Tche damage and stolen goods lost in the attack will cost the owners about $3,000. He also said that slow response time, decreased street patrols and less cops on the street have made criminals in Detroit brazen enough to commit crimes publicly.
Monday morning, two Detroiters were shot trying to stop crimes they witnessed before the police could arrive. One 61-year-old good Samaritan was shot in the eye when he tried to stop a mugging in the city's downtown. Just several hours later, an off-duty Homeland Security officer traded gunfire with thieves who were stealing a car near his home, and was hit.
The average response time for Detroit Police Department could be as high as 58 minutes, although the Detroit Police Department disputes those numbers, saying that life-threatening emergency calls are usually answered within 15 minutes.
New Detroit Police Chief James Craig has re-opened 24-hour precincts and reassigned many sworn officers in positions that can be done by civilians to street patrols. Still, the DPD has lost nearly half of its officers in the past decade to layoffs, retirements and resignations. The city of 700,000 currently staffs about 2,400 sworn officers, according to MLive.
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