Man robbed leaving cab on Oxford Road in Ann Arbor
A man was robbed this morning while getting out of a cab in the 700 block of Oxford Road in Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan police crime alert said.
The victim was approached about 3:30 a.m. by a man with a handgun, who stole his wallet, cell phone and laptop computer, the alert said.
According to the alert, the suspect got into a 1990s model, silver, four-door sedan that was seen traveling north toward Geddes Avenue.
The suspect was described as black and 5 feet, 9 inches tall. He was wearing glasses and a large, puffy tan coat and tan knit cap, the alert said.
Ann Arbor police spokeswoman Lt. Renee Bush could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.
Anyone with information can call university police at (734) 763-1131, the Ann Arbor Police Department's tip line at (734) 794-6939 or e-mail tips@a2gov.org.
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Ralph
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 : 9:02 p.m.
Where's Channel 4 News when you need them?
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 : 11:35 a.m.
As usual, I'm in line with Ricebrnr's thinking regarding good self defense strategy and preparation. 2AM-4AM: prime time for crime. This period is when you must be most alert and prepared. Yet people seem to think THEY are alone at such times - when criminals know they make that assumption. Buy a tactical high intensity flash light and don't be afraid to use it when a figure approaches you in the dark. Never let any unknown person approach too closely when you're alone in the dark - move quickly and at right angles until you have at least 20 feet separating you. Watch the other person's hands: where are they and what are they doing. Go ahead and act like a paranoid whacko: shout "Don't come toward me!" Never comply with any request from a stranger in such situations: don't "give them the time" or "hand over a cigarette." "Sorry, can't help you!" is the least confrontational brush off - spoken loudly. Wee hours on a deserted street is NO time to be sociable. You should know that.
Nephilim
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 : 3:01 a.m.
Rusty, Bill, yer right, the most important thing of all in the city is the precious student area and that is it. Then other 114,000 residents mean absolutely and don't deserve to have their neighborhoods patrolled or their complaints responded to because apparently the hot bed of criminal activity is ONLY in the student areas of town. How about this also: maybe just maybe if you all wouldn't been so for cutting cops 80+ to date since 1996 then some of these crimes could get more attention and the cops could actually do their jobs. Why don't you two head on down to city hall and maybe the mayor will make you guys constables or something. Since you got all the answers, then you could go out and nab all them bad people and see just how easy it is. Good luck n stuff........
Ricebrnr
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 8:50 p.m.
Loves_fall, good idea for recovering your body but a more useful approach might be to be proactive and prepare your defense to prevent grave injury or death instead.
loves_fall
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 : 2:54 a.m.
I dunno, I was threatened in the CVS parking lot by a drunk cowboy who called me some naughty things and then threatened to "shank" me. He seemed pretty serious about it. I spooked him with phone alone. There's no reason for people to continue moving forward with a crime when there's a near certainty that they will be IDed and brought to justice if they can choose to just walk away.
Bill
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 6:06 p.m.
Odd scenario to be sure. I think love_fall makes an excellent point. However what about the working poor who can't afford smart phones? I'd like to see the police do their part, especially in areas that suffer repeat felonies, e.g. robberies, burglaries, home invasions, and rapes The student areas are a magnet for crime, maybe landlords could get involved as well. You know, a community action?
masticate
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 5:57 p.m.
As someone planning to live in this area next year, I really would like to see the police/campus security do something about this. First the indecent exposure incident near Oxford housing, now multiple armed robberies? This shouldn't be happening, especially right near one of the safest (or so I thought) neighborhoods in Ann Arbor.
loves_fall
Wed, Jan 19, 2011 : 3:54 a.m.
That neighborhood isn't what I'd call safe. There's always crap there. If you want to be safe, move to the northside. :)
FreedomOfSpeech
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 5:13 p.m.
Did the cab driver see this? That escape route should have been easily cut off if the police were called right away.
RJA
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 4:05 p.m.
@ Rusty, do you think a police officer should sit all night on the 700 block of Oxford Rd? They have no idea who is taking a cab or where they are being dropped off. Apparently the suspect was sitting in a warm car prior to the assult rather than standing in the freezing rain at 3:30 a.m. With the suspect having a gun, it could have been his life. I wonder if the cab driver had any knowledge of this or saw the get away car? I see this as a weird and sad situation.
rusty shackelford
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 6:48 p.m.
Perps operate with impunity b/c the cops never patrol student-dominated areas except to respond to noise complaints.
loves_fall
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 3:34 p.m.
I would have gotten back in the cab... ha. There have been a lot of armed robberies near UM campus, not just recently, but throughout as long as I've been here (~10 years?). I don't know if they just don't make an effort to publish the results, but I rarely/never hear that they've caught the guy (or gal) responsible for the robberies. I suspect if they haven't, then it is just a bunch of repeat offenders who do it until they get spooked. I don't know if this would help anyone, but I run Qik on my phone, which streams live video to the internet, and you can geotag it if you want. I do, and have given the public feed address to family/close friends in case anything should happen. Think about it -- even if something horrible befalls you, you have the location where you activated it and, hopefully, a pic of the person who did said horrible thing to you. It's streaming from the second you turn it on, so even if they wrestle it away from you, they can't erase it. It's on the Internet already. The key to making it work is to make sure if you run an app that it's on a screen you can access easily, even if you're shaking and panicked. You can also get apps that will give your location if you text them the right key phrase/password -- so even if someone swipes your phone, there's a good chance you'll find out where they've taken it and who it was that lifted it. The same stuff is out there for laptops. Guns aren't the only weapons out there, and we don't all need to be toting guns to defend ourselves. If we're smart, we can use technology to defend ourselves in cases where police investigations aren't quite cutting it.
rusty shackelford
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 2:28 p.m.
How many crimes have to take place on this block in a given (short) time frame before the cops will actually do something proactive about it? I mean, it's extremely likely it's the same person doing all this, and it's on the same block. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out if you actually tried.
smokeblwr
Tue, Jan 18, 2011 : 2:08 p.m.
That is a strange scenario: It sounds like The Perp was just waiting in the freezing cold at 3:30am for somebody to cross his path and this poor fellow happens to get out of his cab and get shaken down. I wonder if this was a setup? Who waits outside in January at 3:30am like that?!?