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Men who entered Dearborn police station with gun convicted

Published  July 10, 2017 6:20pm EDT
News
FOX 2 Detroit

DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - A number of Dearborn cases have some new developments, according to the city's police chief.

Two men who brought guns into the Dearborn police station have been convicted for the incident.

Back in February, the men were unhappy about being pulled over and went to the police station heavily armed and wearing bullet proof vests to confront the officers.

Streaming the event to Facebook Live, they entered the building and nearly immediately were ordered to get down on the ground. They refused at first, but police were soon able to take them into custody without incident.

Leonard resident James Baker, 24, and Jackson resident Brandon Vreeland, 40, were charged with carrying a concealed weapon and now both have been convicted.

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"I'm happy to report today that a jury in Wayne County circuit court convicted both of them of felony charges," said Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad.

Haddad says they will be sentenced in August.

In another case on Dec. 21, 2016, three guys pretending to be customers - one disguised as a woman wearing a hijab - pistol whip a jewelry store employee before smashing display cases and making off with a lot of merchandise.

Now 26-year-old Uriel Drake, 19-year-old Martez Lyons and 24-year-old Denzell Bunkley are pleading guilty to armed robbery.

Haddad says his detectives did a lot of legwork to catch these suspects.

"The car they escaped in, an older Cavalier red in color, was hidden in a backyard on the east side of Detroit under a tarp and again, our detectives did not quit until it was done," he said.

On May 27, a man was caught on video stealing a cell phone from a 13-year-old girl on Michigan Avenue. Police asked for the public's help.

"The investigation kind of stalled out. Last week somebody stalked me at my place of residence and followed me home. The citizen said, are you the chief of police? I said I am, what do you want? He said, I want to talk to you. He pulled out a whole file on this gentleman here that kind of put a ribbon and a bow on this guy," Haddad said.

The concerned citizen told police where to find Florin Bobic. He was arrested and charged with unarmed robbery as a third time habitual offender, an arrest that might not have happened without the help of a citizen who spoke up.

"With that citizen's engagement we were able to charge him with some pretty serious crimes and keep him off our streets," Haddad said.