The suspects were apprehended as they were trying to flee the Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Law enforcement reports that the robbers attempted to ram the exit gate to the lot on the 7500 block of 17 Mile Road, but were unsuccessful in their escape. One of the suspects collided with a police car, however, no injuries were sustained during the incident.
The seven would-be thieves were taken into custody and Sterling Heights detectives are currently investigating to determine if they have any connection to other crimes. This is not the first occurrence of this type of crime, as in November, 13 vehicles were stolen from a dealership in Detroit.
Security alerted the police to the attempted robbery at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning and police officers from Sterling Heights, Troy, Utica, Warren, Clinton and Shelby quickly responded to the call. Stellantis is cooperating with the police investigation, although the shipping yard where the attempted crime occurred is managed by a third party. Ann Marie Fortunate, a spokesperson for the shipping yard management company, said the investigation is still ongoing and she couldn't comment further.
The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant was established in 1953 and was initially operated by the US Army as the Michigan Ordinance Missile Plant. Chrysler was a contractor there, building Redstone and Jupiter missiles. It later became a Volkswagen automotive plant in 1980 before being purchased by the Chrysler Corporation in 1983 to build the Chrysler LeBaron GTS and Dodge Lancer.
More recently, the plant received a $1.48 billion investment to modernize and build the next-generation Ram 1500. The plant currently employs 6,785 workers on three shifts.
Source: Detroit Free Press
