Police questioned a suspect and two other individuals last week in connection with a carjacking and strong-arm robbery that left a 52-year-old Independence Township woman injured after she was attacked in Kroger’s parking lot Sept. 1.
The alleged assault took place about 8:50 a.m. in the south parking lot of the Kroger store at 6625 Dixie Highway, near Maybee Road.
Police said the woman, who is an employee of the store, suffered substantial bruising and contusions to her face, a laceration on her forehead, and what appears to be a fractured eye orbit as a result of the incident.
‘We’re continuing to follow all the leads we have,? said Det. John McDonald of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Independence Township substation, who was investigating the case.
McDonald said he interviewed a suspect who fit the victim’s description of her attacker’a black, heavyset male with short hair, possibly in his 40s.
The suspect was located with the help of a woman Detroit police pulled over after running the plate and discovering the car was stolen.
McDonald said he spoke with the driver, who claimed she borrowed the car from the suspect, as well as the driver’s roommate, who offered a different story.
The suspect was released from custody, and police were offering few other details as they sorted fact from fiction in the ongoing investigation.
The victim, who was transported to North Oakland Medical Center following the incident, told police she arrived for work and parked on the building’s south side just before 9 a.m.
As she exited her vehicle, she said, her attacker approached quickly, striking her several times in the face with a closed fist, attempting to force her back into the vehicle and, at one point, choking her.
The woman said the assailant also told her he had a gun, although she did not see a weapon during the struggle.
The victim was able to break free, and other employees, including her daughter who also works at the store, summoned help after learning she’d been attacked.
Witnesses said the man sped south in the car on Dixie Highway. The victim’s purse, which contained identification, cash and a credit card, remained inside the vehicle.
Police said video surveillance does not include the south side of the store’s parking lot, where employees commonly park, nor did video from other areas show footage of anyone fitting the suspect’s description
Police also said a poll of other businesses in the area was negative, and tracking by an OCSO dog was inconclusive, as well.
However, police got a break in the case when Detroit police conducted a traffic stop on the victim’s vehicle, after a LEIN check revealed the car was stolen.
All three individuals questioned in the case are Detroit residents, police said.