A Detroit lottery winner was viciously attacked as by assailants who took his gold chain at a local gas station, according to local reports.
The victim, who was identified as Jamal by WDIV, told the Detroit-based news station that he won $30,000 in the Michigan lottery, then bought himself a $20,000 necklace. Unfortunately, when he wore his gold chain to a local Mobil gas station, a group of men allegedly took advantage of the situation and robbed him.
He explained that he knew getting robbed of his jewelry was a possibility. “I was just like looking around making sure nobody was trying to get my chain,” Jamal told the news station outside the establishment located near West Warren Avenue and Grand Boulevard.
When Jamal walked out of the gas station to head to his next destination, there were suspects waiting in the lot to chase him down. Jamal explained how he tried to rush back into the gas station.
In surveillance video from the gas station, obtained by WDIV, the Detroit man is seen struggling to get back into the building. When he tried to open the entrance door, one of the suspects tackled him. “They had grabbed me, tackled me down,” he said.
The surveillance video shows the suspects punching, kicking and pulling Jamal as he was on the floor struggling during the incident.
“They took off running and jumped in their car and took off,” Jamal told the local news outlet.
There were two women inside the store standing close by as the frightening scene unfolded.
This is apparently not the first incident involving the alleged attackers at the gas station, according to the owner of the establishment.
One of the suspects was seen in the store a few months ago in a white hoodie, as shown in surveillance video footage shared by WDIV. In the video, he appeared to be examining the environment to pursue potential targets.
As the suspect walked outside, he came across someone wearing a necklace in the lot and reached his hand out to rip the jewelry off their neck and took off.
Detroit authorities believe the suspect lives in the area and are asking anyone with information to contact investigators.
According to the FBI Crime Data Explorer’s most recent data, there were 37,858 violent-crime incidents and 43,400 offenses reported in Michigan by 635 law enforcement agencies that submitted incident-based National Incident-Based Reporting System data in 2019. This covers 96 percent of the total population, per the report.
This information is derived from both incident-based (National Incident-Based Reporting System) and summary (Summary Reporting System) reports voluntarily submitted to the FBI.
“The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE) aims to provide transparency, create easier access, and expand awareness of criminal, and noncriminal, law enforcement data sharing; improve accountability for law enforcement; and provide a foundation to help shape public policy with the result of a safer nation,” the FBI wrote on their crime data explorer website.
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