A Detroit woman, whose Mercedes Benz was stolen, put on her “investigative hat” and successfully managed to track down her prized asset as well as the suspected car thief. This was three days after the perpetrator had made away with the vehicle.
And though Bianca Chambers had reported her vehicle stolen and the police were also looking into the incident, she somehow decided to make their work easier by ultimately leading them to the perpetrator on July 14.
In an interview with FOX 5 Atlanta, Chambers said she found her vehicle parked outside a barbershop where the suspected car thief was getting his dreadlocks twisted. And after eventually tracking down her stolen vehicle after three days of searching, Chambers said she made it her mission to ensure the suspected thief did not flee.
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“At that point, I was like…I’m not letting this man walk again,” she said. Chambers shared her confrontation with the suspected car thief in the barbershop on Facebook Live. Chambers reportedly walked up to the suspected thief and asked him if the Benz parked outside belonged to him. When the suspect denied any knowledge of the vehicle, she got into an altercation with him. A video also showed the suspect being dragged outside the establishment by his dreadlocks.
To also ensure her vehicle stayed put until the police arrived, Chambers also said she slashed the car’s four tires. Customers who also witnessed the incident made a citizen’s arrest. “I slashed all the tires and I thought that he was gonna take off and I didn’t know how long it was going to take for the police to pull up. And I refused to let him pull off again,” she recalled.
During the period Chambers’ vehicle was stolen, she received information about its whereabouts from social media tips. Police also said Chambers called 911 four times to inform them about where the vehicle had been spotted. But anytime they went to the said location, the car had been moved, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. In one instance, the suspected thief is said to have driven the car to a strip mall where Chambers’ boutique is located.
On a lighter note, however, Chambers said the suspected thief took very good care of her car. “They was driving, they was having a good time, they was smoking but, yes, when I got my car, it was very clean,” she said.
Nevertheless, Chambers called out the suspected thief for “joyriding” in her car “like nobody was going to see.” “You’re just the dumbest criminal, that’s all,” she said.
Meanwhile, the police said the suspect’s detainment was not a legal citizen’s arrest, adding that it was felonious assault, The Detroit News reported. The arrested suspect, however, decided not to press any charges.
“We’ve got a victim who allegedly stole this car who was assaulted, but he didn’t want to press charges, so (Chambers) wasn’t arrested,” Detroit police 2nd Deputy Chief Rudy Harper told the news outlet. “But that wasn’t a citizen’s arrest; it was a felonious assault. She even admits on the video that she assaulted the man.”
Chambers, however, defended her action and said she would have “just taken the assault charge” if it was brought against her. “I mean, this guy is cruising around in my car. Now, he’s getting his hair done, about to pick whoever up and go joyriding. That’s just wrong,” she said.
