HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — On Saturday, Hamtramck police said it had received word from authorities in Ohio about a threat against the city’s immigrant population.
Police said the details came from someone at a church in Toledo who alerted local authorities that a man named William Dorocha came to talk to a priest and then allegedly told others at the church that he was going to “take care of immigrants in Hamtramck ‘.
“We have the most diverse population in the state,” Hamtramck Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri told CBS Detroit. “We knew we had to act quickly.”
Altaheri brought in the department’s criminal intelligence analyst, Andrew Robinson, who got to work tracking Darocha’s license plate number.
“That’s how we found out his car was still in the Toledo area,” Robinson said. “So we kept an eye on it as we gathered more details.”
Robinson said hours passed and they were preparing to wrap up the case and go home when Dorocha started driving again.
“I wanted to check again and I saw him crossing the Michigan border,” Robinson said. “I saw he was in Taylor (Michigan). And then things picked up a second time.”
Hamtramck police quickly alerted Taylor authorities, who arrested the suspect. He was initially taken into custody by the FBI, who then returned him to Toledo. Officers say he had no weapons on him when he was found.
Altaheri told CBS News Detroit he is grateful no one was injured. He added that this is a new reality that he wishes his department would not have to face.
“No one should be afraid to walk in their own neighborhood, regardless of race, religion or origin,” Altaheri said. “We want to make sure that everyone is safe, but that they also feel safe.”
CBS News reached out to Taylor and Toledo police for more details about the incident, but we have not heard back.
Walter Murphy
