Macomb authorities arrest suspect in $1.5 million Cadillac crime ring
Deon Brooks, 24, is accused of participating in an ongoing criminal operation, which the Macomb Auto Theft Squad began investigating in December. Detectives linked Brooks to multiple stolen vehicles from a lot on Van Dyke Avenue that, together, authorities valued at more than $1.5 million, according to a county sheriff's office press release and its spokeswoman.
The stolen vehicles were brand new, awaiting shipment to dealerships or corporate loaner cars, Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Jennifer Putney told the Free Press. She later indicated the Cadillacs were the Escalade V.
Brooks' bond was set at $2 million during arraignment Wednesday in 37th District Court in Warren, according to the sheriff's office and the court. Brooks is charged with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony.
He pleaded not guilty in court. His bond conditions include wearing a GPS tether if he is released from the county jail, where he was being held Wednesday, according the court and online jail records.
No attorney was listed for him in online court records.
Detectives allege that Brooks "retagged" the vehicles with cloned vehicle identification numbers and sold them out of state for a large profit, though authorities did not provide a specific dollar amount.
As part of the investigation, authorities seized several printers, retagging equipment, fraudulent secretary of state documents, methamphetamine, jewelry and a Chrysler Pacifica. The release indicated Brooks was arrested Tuesday.
Brooks' probable cause conference is slated for March 20 and his preliminary exam is scheduled for March 27. The investigation continues into other suspects who may be linked to Brooks.
The sheriff's office release indicates Brooks also is on bond in 42-1 District Court in Romeo on charges regarding unlawful driving away of an automobile from dealerships in Washington Township in February 2024. His next hearing in that court is set for April 8, according online court records.
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com. This is a developing story and may be updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb authorities arrest suspect in $1.5 million Cadillac crime ring
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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Tea app fuels divorce and controversy in Dearborn, sparks copycat platforms like Teaborn
The Tea Dating Advice app, advertised as "the first-ever dating safety platform for women," has taken social media by storm. In metro Detroit — particularly among the Muslim community — it has been especially popular. A Dearborn-based app developer even launched Teaborn, a rival gossip app to Tea open to everyone, but it was short-lived after nude photos were shared, its creator said. Tea, which recently experienced security issues, allows users to anonymously share information about men they have dated or interacted with, or seek insight on men they are interested in. Family attorney Mohamed Ali Hammoud of Mourad Law in Dearborn said he has handled about a dozen divorce filings in which the women-only platform played a role. "One party may have suspicions about the other person cheating, and then the Tea app just confirmed it, or was the final straw for them," he said. "Due to the public embarrassment" and "shock from it, they felt like divorce was the right option." Hammoud said many of his clients are Muslim, and within the small, tight-knit community, gossip 'spreads like wildfire.' While the app may help women uncover hidden truths, he said, it can also spread false claims fueled by jealousy or resentment. Detroit resident and social media influencer Denise Bradley, known online as Aunt Karen, says she uses the Tea app only to observe what others are saying rather than post anything herself. "I joined the app because I was interested to see what the big deal was after I saw people on TikTok, primarily men, complaining about it," Bradley told the Free Press. "I think the app allows women to give their perspective on men who they're dating, men who are in their lives, who may have messaged them or are maybe seeking to date them." Tea has drawn significant backlash since rising to prominence this summer, but women like Bradley say it provides a necessary space. As of August, the app says it has more than 6.2 million users. "All women should deserve to be safe, especially in the society and the world that we live in," Bradley said. "Having some sort of knowledge and utilizing that knowledge for your own safety is important." How Tea works Tea was founded by Sean Cook "after witnessing his mother's terrifying experience with online dating — not only being catfished but unknowingly engaging with men who had criminal records," according to the app's website. Users are shown posts of men in their area with photos and first names, allowing women to assign a 'red flag' or 'green flag' and comment based on personal experience or what they've learned from others. Women can search names or phone numbers directly or set up custom alerts for specific men. Additional features include background checks, criminal record searches, sex offender searches and reverse image searches to help identify catfishing attempts, according to Tea. To join Tea, women must verify their identity by submitting selfies. There is now a waitlist to be approved into the app, which could take days. All users are meant to remain anonymous, and the app disables screenshots. To her surprise, Bradley said, she knows some of the men who have been posted. "A few of my friends and others in my circle have had their husbands posted, and now they're questioning, 'Are you talking to other people?'" she said. "One of my friends' husbands did admit to talking to someone else, and they're currently trying to see if they're going to work on things or if they're going to get a divorce. So, the Tea app has definitely brought some things out into the light." Similar apps keep popping up: Teaborn, TeaOnHer Similar gossip platforms have emerged since Tea grew in popularity. And because the app became so prevalent in Dearborn, 21-year-old app developer and resident, Mohamed Saleh, decided to create one for the city: Teaborn. Open to all, not just women, it quickly scaled the Apple App Store's social networking charts but was shut down only three hours later, after nude photos of women were posted without their consent. Saleh, who previously focused on creating self-improvement apps, said he rushed to launch Teaborn after seeing Tea's success. He said he took it offline himself when he began receiving alarming messages due to the explicit photos — including one from a man claiming his sister had been taken to the ER for a panic attack, and another from a woman threatening to harm herself if a post wasn't removed immediately. 'That was the final straw,' he said. 'I put up a pop-up saying I was no longer participating, and that was the end of the app.' More: Attorneys say WDIV's Hank Winchester 'exonerated and cleared,' call accusations 'baseless' Teaborn has since been acquired by a group, which Saleh said he could not disclose. 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One of the more prevalent men-only versions, TeaOnHer Dating Advice, briefly surpassed the women-only platform on Apple's free apps chart on Aug. 12 — TeaOnHer ranked second while Tea ranked third. As of Aug. 18, Tea sits at No. 3 while TeaOnHer has fallen to No. 8. Security breaches raise privacy concerns, lead to lawsuits Tea says identity verification selfies are deleted after review. However, that promise of privacy was called into question after the company detected unauthorized access to one of its systems on July 25. Tea confirmed about 72,000 images were accessed, including roughly 13,000 selfies and ID photos, and 59,000 images publicly visible in posts, comments or messages. Only users who signed up before February 2024 were affected. The app had phased out ID verification before the leak. On July 28, 404 Media reported a second security breach that exposed more than 1.1 million direct messages exchanged on the app between early 2023 and July 2025. 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As a result of the breach, at least 10 lawsuits seeking class action status have been filed in federal and state courts over negligent data practices and breach of contract, according to NBC News. Attorneys leading the cases say the app's failure to protect sensitive data has caused emotional distress, harassment and potential identity theft for users, and could have catastrophic consequences for the company. Like Tea, TeaOnHer had major security flaws, according to TechCrunch, exposing names, emails, locations, driver's license photos and other personal data. Some explicit images were also visible to guest users, the technology news outlet reported. The flaws have reportedly been fixed, but it's unclear how many users were affected. Neither TeaOnHer nor CEO Xavier Lampki has made a public statement on the security issues. More: Former graduate student sues Michigan State University for $100 million Impact on the Muslim community Imam Mustapha Elturk, president of the Islamic Organization of North America, said the Tea app illustrates the broader risks of social media. 'Social media is good when it is intended to be good, but its evil is greater than good," he said. "We have seen how social media has destroyed families, separated husbands and wives, and alienated children from their parents. ...We need to be very careful how we use these platforms, such as Tea." Bradley, who is part of the metro Detroit Muslim community and frequently visits Dearborn, said Tea's popularity reflects frustrations with traditional dating norms. "Why the app is so popular in the Muslim community right now is because we know that a lot of the men date around. We know that. The issue is how they go about it, and how a lot of them judge women," Bradley said. "Men are out here doing what they want, and then they go look for a good Muslim woman. That, to me, is not fair. In a way, the Tea app kind of gives a voice to the voiceless." She added that the attention on the community may be unwanted but is 'very important' because it forces public discussion of long-standing issues. "None of this is new. We've all known this stuff happens. What's upsetting a lot of people is that the world is seeing it. It's no longer just inside Dearborn." Saleh said he was not posted on the Tea app himself but knows "plenty of guys" in Dearborn who have been — some disputing the claims as lies or dredged-up history. "Their family has heard about it. They usually find out from their sisters," he said. "They've been sending emails to the Tea legal team, trying to get it taken down, but I don't think they've been successful." While the app has caused concerns, Saleh said he sees how it can be a modern way to vet potential partners, but still questions how reliable it is. "I think the idea of it is great; I would want that for my sisters," Saleh said. "But there's something called the Yelp bias, where people only leave bad reviews. So you never get an accurate review — because people who have a good experience just move on, and the people with a bad experience are the ones (who) actually leave a review, or leave a red flag in this case." Are these gossip apps legal? The Tea app and similar gossip platforms currently exist in a legal gray area that courts have yet to address. 'The issue becomes, is this protected speech?' Hammoud said. 'If it's determined that it's free speech, it's protected speech, then there's little recourse' for those posted. 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Yahoo
3 days ago
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‘An intimidation tactic': Trump's show of force dismays Washington residents
Washington DC's only Home Depot was busy with contractors and customers on Thursday morning – but the Hispanic day laborers who usually gather and wait for work under the parking lot's sparse trees were nowhere to be found. Two days earlier, masked federal agents swarmed the area and made several arrests, which were photographed by bystanders and posted on social media. Juwan Brooks, a store employee who witnessed the raid, said the agents grabbed anyone who appeared Hispanic. 'They don't ask no questions,' Brooks said. People walking across the parking lot, getting out of their cars, or even sleeping in their vehicle – all were grabbed by the agents, leaving behind empty work trucks that were eventually towed away. 'It was cool when Trump was saying it, but to actually see it first hand? I didn't like it,' Brooks said. The day laborers 'are not bad people', and he wondered what happened to the children of the men that were taken away. Four days after Trump ordered federal agents and national guard on to the streets of Washington DC to fight a crime wave that city leaders say is not happening, residents of the capital are becoming used to the presence of groups of armed men in their neighborhoods, and the aggressive tactics they use. Beyond the apparent immigration arrests at Home Depot – which Brooks said was the second raid there he is aware of since Trump took office – federal agents have been spotted setting up roadblocks at busy intersections, and patrolling neighborhoods across the city. Trump, who exercised a never-before-used clause in the law governing the district to take over the Metropolitan police department (MPD) for 30 days, this week said he would seek Congress's approval to keep it under federal control for the 'long term'. I just feel like it's too much federal overreach It's unclear how much of a difference the deployment has yet made on public safety. 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Recent evenings have seen federal agents and police set up roadblocks and pull drivers over on major roads, as protesters gathered to condemn them. On Tuesday evening on 14th Street in Columbia Heights, a north-west Washington neighborhood that is home to the city's largest Hispanic population, police and federal agents, some with their faces covered, began stopping cars, said a local shop manager who declined to be named. Before long, dozens of people emerged to berate them. '[Residents] were trying to tell them to leave, you know, the people in the street and the neighbors,' he told the Guardian. 'They yelled back 'don't make the people scared, this is a free country', 'why make the community unsafe?',' the manager said. The scene repeated a little over a mile south on 14th Street on Wednesday evening, with police and federal agents pulling over cars, and locals heckling them and trying to warn approaching drivers away, according to videos posted on social media. 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San Francisco Chronicle
04-08-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Former New York prison guard sentenced to 15 years for beating death of inmate
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A former corrections officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for his role in the death of a Black inmate whose beating by a group of guards at an upstate New York prison was captured on bodycam videos. Christopher Walrath was one of six guards charged with murder in the death of Robert Brooks, who was pummeled at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9. Walrath pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in May under the first plea deal among the guards charged with murder. 'In that video, I see you and your fellow officers treating him as if his life holds no value at all, as if you're entitled to brutalize him for sport,' Robert Brooks Jr., the victim's son, told the court. The son said in his victim impact statement that, 'I am not OK and I never will be.' Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017 and was transferred to Marcy from a nearby lockup on the night he was beaten. The videos show Brooks being struck in the chest with a shoe, lifted by his neck and then dropped. Under questioning in May from Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, Walrath admitted that he and other guards assaulted Brooks, that he put Brooks in a chokehold, and that he struck the inmate's body and groin. In addition to the six guards charged in February with murder, three more prison workers were indicted for manslaughter and another for evidence tampering. Prosecutors have said three other prison workers have reached agreements. A guard pleaded guilty in May to attempted tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge. Trials were scheduled to begin in October for guards who have rejected plea deals. Fitzpatrick also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at another Marcy lockup, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder.
