Evil had a birthday last Saturday
Last Saturday, a vicious Ann Arbor criminal celebrated his birthday in the Baraga Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula. He's serving a mandatory life sentence for murder and three sentences of 50-75 years for rapes in Washtenaw County, as well as three 40-60 year sentences for rapes in Wayne County.
I won't use his name. He's too egocentric. If he ever gets Internet privileges, he should know he's a non-entity now.
From 1992 through 1994, the man hunted in Ann Arbor. He was cunning, ruthless and had no mercy for his victims. His hometown police department told us he could climb telephone poles without touching the spikes and earned the nickname “Cheetah Chub” for his efforts.Â
He’d been a rapist since he was a juvenile and couldn’t hold a job for more than several weeks.
The man hunted lone women on deserted wooded trails, railroad tracks, and isolated sidewalks where his attacks wouldn't be seen. Other victims he followed were unaware, or a little tipsy, and he attacked them in their homes.
This predator said nothing to his victims, but savagely attacked them by blindsiding, sucker punching and bashing their heads into the ground to render them unconscious and defenseless. He told another detective and I, he would then “take their dignity.”
The police worked exhaustively to find this creep. Cab drivers, from a company near where one of his victims died, took it personally and searched for him. Huge rewards were offered for his arrest.
While he skulked through the city, he told us he tried to vary his routes in case the cops were watching. He wore multiple layers of clothing so he could quickly alter his appearance after his attacks. He confided that he saw helicopters surveilling him, when in reality, only medical flights traversed the sky.Â
He and his girlfriend clipped maps from newspapers showing the locations of his attacks. He had just purchased a newspaper to read about his latest exploits when he was arrested.
He attacked without conscience and placed no value on the lives of his victims. He told us, “Those women who died, just gave up.” That slip tipped his hand. We only knew of one victim he murdered, and she had been a fighter all her life. We never found another homicide victim, but there were probably others elsewhere.
He terrorized Ann Arbor for two years, ruined the lives of a dozen families, and forever altered the habits and lives of his surviving victims. One of his attacks occurred three blocks northeast of City Hall. In that case, he only stopped beating his victim when he was frightened by the siren of a police car responding to an unrelated alarm.Â
That attack caused the formation of a multiagency task force.
In an ironic twist of numerological fate, the first operational day of the Ann Arbor Serial Rape Task Force occurred on his birthday. Equally coincidental is that this evil predator (who looked like the Grinch, especially when he smiled), was arrested on Christmas 15 years ago.
Happy belated birthday “Cheetah Chub,” you are where you should be, and Ann Arbor sleeps better because you are caged. Even so, lock it up, don’t leave it unattended, be aware (for predators like the Grinch lookalike) and watch out for your neighbors.
Rich Kinsey is a retired Ann Arbor police detective sergeant who now blogs about crime and safety for AnnArbor.com.
Comments
walker101
Tue, Oct 27, 2009 : 9:27 a.m.
Thank You to those who dedicated all their efforts in getting this sicko off the streets.
susan
Fri, Oct 23, 2009 : 8:06 a.m.
Interesting that he was described as being 5'7" but he turned out to be 6'2".
emu2009
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 6:37 a.m.
@LGChelsea, I am not the one being paid for accuracy in a story. If I made a mistake in a comment then I stand corrected, but it was just that, a comment, not a news story. @djm12652, I wasn't a journalism major. My degree is closely related to that degree though and part of my education included many journalism classes. And YES I am one of the many graduates this year still looking for employment in my field :)
Arboriginal
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 10:54 p.m.
Wasn't his girlfriend found guilty of collusion? I can't remember all of the details but it sounds like she was an accomplice. Icky.
LGChelsea
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 8:52 p.m.
emu2009: You made 3 grammatical errors in your comment. 1) It is "could NOT care less...", not "COULD care less.." 2) Line #5: "Online news sources...HAVE made reporters lazy", not "HAS made reporters lazy". 3) Line #6: "I know people...WHO don't have jobs", not "THAT don't have jobs".
djm12652
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 3:09 p.m.
emu2009...Well put! You wouldn't happen to be a journalism major looking for work...maybe? Please? Pretty Please?
emu2009
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 2:41 p.m.
@Rrrrrodney Stuckey I realize that there are people out there who could care less or can't recognize the grammar and AP style mistakes that are constantly present on this site, but there are also people who are apparently more qualified than the staff and it is extremely annoying to see such simple mistakes made on a daily basis. Online news sources and their desire to post news quickly has made reporters lazy. I know many people who are far more qualified that don't have jobs and could do this job much better and yet they hire reporters who don't have a basic knowledge of grammar and AP style.
djm12652
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 2:28 p.m.
Actually Mr. Coleman...there was a APB put out for a white male with a military haircut with a nominal vehicle description and the state, local, and feds were stopping anyone that came close to that description...why does everything have to be made about race?
xsnrg454
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 1:17 p.m.
perhaps Mr. Coleman can fashion himself another sign and champion yet another cause with which he has no personal involvement
treetowncartel
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 12:50 p.m.
Ah, the good old days, when the A2 city council actually got stuff done.
rrt911
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 11:47 a.m.
I remember all of this very well, in fact, he was captured near my home. I think it was the white knit gloves that a cabbie noticed that got him. I remember not really walking anywhere without my german sheperd. RIP Jake, you would tore this jerk up and left him in pieces if he touched your Mommy.
I_love_ann_arbor
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 11:46 a.m.
It would be interesting to find out what happened to all of those dna samples that were collected when AAPD was arresting almost all of the African American Men in Ann Arbor as suspects. It is indeed great that he is prison but remember his crimes also hurt alot of families and relationships between the Black Community and AAPD
emu2009
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 10:30 a.m.
"He terrorized Ann Arbor for two years, ruined the lives a dozen families, and forever altered the habits and lives of his surviving victims." I believe the word you are looking for is "of" that should go before "a dozen" Come on, there are plenty of people without jobs who could be a copy editor for this hack of a news source, hire one!
grimdaddy1
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 10:24 a.m.
it makes it more real when they read it on the internet huh
EngineeringMom
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 10:18 a.m.
Why go over this? Because our daughters need to hear about it from someone other than their "over reacting" parents. It seems to make it more real when they read it in a column.
annarbor
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 10:07 a.m.
D/Sgt Kinsey, I remember when this waste of flesh preyed on women in Ann Arbor. Absolutely no time of day or area of town was safe. My friends wore bike helmets when they went running so as not to become a victim of this monster. This loser, along with John Norman Collins and Coral Eugene Watts are where they belong. Let's just hope that he was the last of his kind to pass through this town...
DagnyJ
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:57 a.m.
Why indeed bother to go back over this?
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:55 a.m.
"I won't use his name. He's too egocentric. If he ever gets Internet privileges, he should know he's a non-entity now." so why give him this 15 more minutes?
Hans Masing
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:51 a.m.
(and sisters! Sorry!)
Hans Masing
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:51 a.m.
Thank you for doing what you did to get this animal in a cage where he belongs. On behalf of my family (especially my wife and daughter), I thank you and your brothers in the police department.
Laura Bien
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:14 a.m.
Yet more info on the offender: http://www.state.mi.us/mdoc/asp/otis2profile.asp?mdocNumber=244305
Laura Bien
Wed, Oct 21, 2009 : 9:08 a.m.
More info on this story may be found on the AADL's interesting and well-written "Ann Arbor Police Department History" online exhibit: http://aapd.aadl.org/aapd/truecrimes/10