The fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man in Romulus last week prompted several residents of the Oakbrook subdivision to take their safety concerns to members of the city council.
Prior to comments from several residents during the Dec. 7 Zoom city council meeting, Police Chief Robert Pfannes addressed the situation.
“We had a fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man,” Pfannes began. “It is understandable that the neighborhood is concerned. There is nothing worse than not feeling safe in your own home.”
He said there are currently extra patrols in the subdivision and suggested that residents access the Romulus Police Department Facebook page for updated information.
“That's a good way to keep in touch,” he said.
The latest incident took place at about 9:20 p.m. Dec. 1 at a home in the 15000 block of Taft near Eureka and Middlebelt Road. Responding officers entered the house and discovered the victim, dead from a wound to the head. An officer on patrol in the neighborhood observed the suspect vehicle leaving the subdivision and began pursuit. The police chase ended when a suspect abandoned his vehicle near Hamtramck. No arrests have been reported in the death, although Pfannes said that the investigation is progressing.
Oakbrook resident Bill Carroll spoke to the council members of his concerns and recounted numerous illegal activities that have been escalating in the area during the past few years.
He told the officials that six weeks ago there was a drive-by shooting in the neighborhood and the instances of criminal behavior are unchecked. He said that he and his wife had seen a man openly carrying an assault weapon on a nearby corner.
Carroll said he has called Pfannes several times but has not spoken with him. He was also concerned, he said, regarding the speeding drivers through the subdivision which he said race at 50-60 miles per hour up and down the street.
“I refuse to let my kids outside to play. I have three boys and they can't go outside because of problems outside my house,” he said.
“What can be done to help us preserve our way of life?” he asked the officials.
His concerns were reiterated by Ricky Joellen, who lives on Brandt Street in the subdivision. He agreed with Carroll about the speeding drivers in the neighborhood and said that “nobody stops at the stop sign. Through the walls of my house we can hear them going 60 miles an hour.”
“The police are not doing what needs to be done. This is absolutely asinine. It is getting dangerous, getting real dangerous,” he said.
He said that he asked to speak to the traffic sergeant and had called the chief of police and the mayor's office, but every time he was referred back to the police department.
Councilwoman Eva Webb responded, “You should have protection. Our citizens passed a millage for police and fire. We need to have police over there to tone this down.”
Councilman William Wadsworth also responded to the residents' concerns noting that the subdivision “used to be my neighborhood. I have a lot of friends still there.”
He suggested a meeting with Carroll, Pfannes and himself “and get some action and get something done, not just talking.”
Joellen said that his complaints to the police department were met with a standard response that the officers are “spread too thin, there are only two officers on patrol.”
“If we keep ignoring it, it's not going to get any better,” Webb said. “Our residents passed a millage. It's not that we need to give them (police) more. They just need to do what they promised,” she said.
Other residents spoke to the council members reiterating the uptick in crime in the neighborhood while neighbors said they have seen an increased police presence in the area.
Bill Muggleberg who has lived in Oakbrook for 53 years said he has seen police more in the last six months than in all the time he has lived in the city.
“I've been seeing the cars, these guys are working their tails off, I'll give them that,” he said. “Law enforcement is not the problem. We need to come together on this problem. He suggested a Neighborhood Watch effort in the area.
Wadsworth said that the council members needed a written report regarding the situation. “That was my home for 15 years,” he said. He asked Mayor LeRoy Burcroff if he would keep the council members abreast of the situation.
Webb thanked Muggleberg for his assessment of the police presence in the area.
“With COVID, going on we have to do things differently” she said. “We are in a new era.”
Pfannes said early this week that he had already spoken to several of the residents, either in person or by phone, and had conversations with them in an effort to allay their concerns.
