by
Sheriff Michael Bouchard
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard says the man suspected of shooting a mom in front of her son and stealing her car Tuesday night outside an Old Navy store at the Baldwin Commons Plaza in Orion Township should never have been free, WXYZ reports.
He said Wednesday the 25-year-old Ann Arbor man was convicted in a 2024 case of assault with intent to do great bodily harm in Ypsilanti but received only two years of probation.
Bouchard said the man was on probation for hog-tying and duct-taping a woman and trying to suffocate her with a plastic bag over her head.
"And he's back out on the streets, saying no harm, no foul? Is that how the justice system works?"
The suspect was arrested Tuesday night less than two hours after the shooting and carjacking at the shopping plaza. He has not been formally charged yet.
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office, which handled the case, issued a statement to WXYZ:
"The suspect pleaded guilty as charged to one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and one count of assault and battery. At the time, he had no prior adult or juvenile record. No reduction in charges were given as part of his plea.
"His sentence of probation in that case was consistent with Michigan's sentencing guidelines--which serve as a guide for courts to determine what an appropriate sentence would be in a felony case. In other words, the sentence he received was what he likely would have received even had he been found guilty at trial."
