DETROIT (WWJ) – An Amazon delivery driver who reported she was carjacked in late December has confessed she lied to Detroit police and was involved in the crime herself.
The spoof carjacking happened on Dec. 30 in the area of Renfrew and Pembroke – near Livernois and 8 Mile Road on the city’s north side – and Detroit police at the time were asking the community for help in finding the suspect.
In early January, Detroit police released video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera showing a suspect pulling up in a Blue Ford Escape, getting out and then running up to the delivery van and apparently stealing the vehicle, a 2021 Dodge Ram 3500 van.
Police reported at the start of the investigation that the van had more than 100 packages inside, just days after Christmas.
Authorities say thanks to a tip from the community, investigators eventually learned the driver may have been involved in the crime.
After further investigative work by police, the driver confessed she had lied about being carjacked and was, indeed, involved in planning the crime.
Investigators have sent a warrant request to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for the driver on charges of larceny over $1,000 and false report of a felony, police said on Wednesday.
Police did not release the woman’s name and it was not clear whether investigators had identified the other suspects involved in the crime.
The investigation is still ongoing and authorities are asking anyone with information on the phony carjacking to call the Detroit Police Department’s Commercial Auto Theft Unit at 313-596-2555 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
All Crime Stoppers tipsters will remain anonymous.
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