Park council honors five civilians
who aided police work last year

The Grosse Pointe Park City Council honored civilians who helped police at its Monday meeting (March 8). Director of Public Safety David Hiller and Mayor Palmer Heenan presented Detroit residents Nicholas Oakes, Nathan Oakes and Bill Gaetz with Public Safety Civilian Commendations for their collaborative efforts to catch a thief.

Last year on the morning after Angel’s Night, the three men were headed for breakfast at Harvard Grill when they heard a woman scream. She pointed out a thief stealing from her neighbor’s garage. “She said she saw a man go into the garage across the street from her who was taking items,” Nathan Oakes said. “She said she knew the owner and told us ‘that guy is stealing stuff out of the garage’ and we just reacted and chased him down.”

The men chased the suspect, tackling him and holding him until police arrived. “I grabbed the car and these guys chased him on foot for a couple blocks,” Nathan said. “He had a chainsaw.”

Hiller and Heenan also gave civilian commendations to Lawrence Carmack and Scott Carmack of St. Clair Shores. Both men were working in the backyard of a home when a suspect fleeing police ran into the yard. “He stopped when he saw us. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the backyard, I guess,” Lawrence Carmack said. “He stopped in front of us and was like, ‘wow, there’s a policeman chasing me and I don’t know why’ and I saw out the corner of my eye that the police car pulled in the driveway so I pointed to him, he took off running, and I went after him,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence and Scott tackled and held the man until police arrived.

Hiller gave the annual report for the police department, highlighting that home invasions and car thefts are down. “There were only 20 home invasions reported in 2009 making it the lowest number since 1995,” Hiller said. “Forty-two cars were stolen and that’s the lowest in 10 years.”

Heenan called for a motion to consider an official response to the potential Asian carp invasion and council approved. Heenan expressed his concern about the possible effects that the invasion would have on the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair. “(Native) fish will be in danger if the Asian carp invade Lake St. Clair,” he said.

Asian carp are non-native species that have been spreading through the Mississippi River drainage for years, after escaping from fish farms in the South. DNA from the species has been found near the entrance to Lake Michigan, and there is concern that they are dangerously close to entering the Great Lakes, if they haven’t already. The fish grow very large and are voracious eaters, and could displace native species. 

From left, Nicholas Oakes, Nathan Oakes and Bill Gaetz were honored by the Park council last night, for helping police apprehend a theft suspect.

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