A firebomb was tossed at the near east-side home of Carmen Harlan, a widely admired Detroit TV icon, two weekends ago.
Csrmen Harlan before retiring last fall. (WDIV photo)
The attack didn't do any real damage, say Detroit police, who nabbed a suspect in the act, George Hunter recounts at The Detroit News:
Police say Kizzy Nickerson on Jan. 29 threw a Molotov cocktail at the Indian Village home of former WDIV Local 4 newscaster Carmen Harlan, who retired in November after 38 years with the station.
When officers searched the woman’s backpack, they found several bricks, which she allegedly planned to throw at Harlan’s house, Detroit Police 2nd Deputy Chief Michael Woody said.
“Officers were on patrol when they observed a female with a backpack light a Molotov cocktail and throw it at the house,” Woody said. “They arrested her, and found a bunch of bricks in her backpack.”
There's no indication whether the former broadcaster was home.
The suspect, charged with a felony that could bring a jail term or 20 years or more if she's convicted, reportedly felt Harlan was somehow responsible for Detroit’s crime rate. (Don't ask -- we're baffled too.)
She has a criminal record.
Nickerson spent more than five years in prison after being convicted in 2005 of two counts of retail fraud and assaulting a police officer.
Details are sparse because Chief 36th District Judge Kenneth King sealed the case's records for an unknown reason, Hunter writes.
-- Alan Stamm
