Suspected Berkley Robber Dead After Standoff with Hazel Park Police

A man suspected of an armed robbery in Berkley shot himself with a gun inside of his vehicle after a half-hour standoff with police on Eight Mile Road, near Interstate 75, in Detroit.

The 50-year-old Detroit man, driving a blue Dodge Durango, was chased by police Tuesday morning after allegedly robbing a 30-year-old Berkley woman of her purse as she was walking to her car. The robbery took place shortly after 10 a.m. on a side street near the 12 Mile and Greenfield intersection, according to Berkley Deputy Chief Robert North.

The man stole the woman’s purse and then proceeded to dump it in nearby Huntington Woods on the 13100 block of Ludlow Street as he sped away in his car.

Huntington Woods Police alerted Berkley Police, who then contacted the other departments via radio as the suspect drove away in his SUV. Hazel Park Police spotted the vehicle, and stopped it near Cardoni Street and Eight Mile in Detroit.

Police ordered the robbery suspect to get out of the car.

However, the man refused to exit his dark-tinted-window SUV and did not cooperate with a series of directions issued by police.

North said a gunshot was heard during the half-hour standoff and police then proceeded to shatter the back window of the SUV with a rock to find the man dead inside.

Ferndale, Madison Heights and Berkley police were also on the scene at the time.