Third DTE crew robbed, $2,500 reward offered

They were just doing their job: trying to get the power back on after Saturday's storms. Instead they were held up at gunpoint. 

This didn't just happen once, it happened to three different DTE Energy crews since Saturday.

The first one happened Saturday, as the storm was raging, but on Monday, DTE Chief Security Officer Michael Lynch said two crews were hit on the same day.

We were there moments after the first one at Longacre and Kendall on Detroit's west side. A tree had fallen and crews were at the scene.

There was also a gunman who stole hundreds of dollars from the four utility workers. Now, Lynch is warning all crews not to carry any valuables.

"We're reminding them to make sure that they're not carrying any money," Lynch said. "(We're) not going to have workers out there with any amount of cash on them."

On Monday, two other crews were robbed: At Livernois and McNichols and the other at Seven Mile and The Lodge.

The workers, who are already dealing with dangerous, high voltage, powers lines, have enough to battle when a storm is raging. 

When they're up in the air, fixing your power, the last thing they need to worry about is being robbed. That, Lynch said, is exactly why penalties are more serious for people who target utility workers.

"It's a felony but it's the difference between going to jail and going to prison. We're about seeing them go to prison for this kind of crime."

Detroit police are on the case and DTE is asking for tips and paying out good money to get these guys off the street. 

An unprecedented $2,500 reward has been offered for anyone who has information that leads to arrests.

If you know something, say something. Tips can be called in to 313-235-9113 or 313-235-9119.