DETROIT – Police used a woman's car as bait in an attempt to catch the carjackers, but ended up empty-handed.
ORIGINAL STORY: Carjackers targeting drivers in Detroit, Highland Park gas stations
A woman was carjacked at gunpoint on June 6 in Highland Park and she ended up leading police right to her car and potentially to the gunmen behind all the carjackings. Members of the Detroit Police Commercial Auto Theft unit watched her car and it still got stripped.
"This is ridiculous," said Ericka Taylor.
Police confirmed it was the same crew that has carjacked multiple drivers at gas stations across Metro Detroit in the city the past two weeks.
Police believe Taylor gave investigators the break they needed when she led investigators right to her car.
"My friend left his phone in the car, we tracked it to this location," Taylor said. "I saw my car, it was intact, still in one piece."
Authorities chose not to recover the car, but to watch it, hoping to catch the carjackers, but a man got into Taylor's car and drove away.
"We attempted to follow it and attempt to make an arrest without causing any accidents or putting anyone in harm's way," said Robert Wellman with the Detroit police. "They were driving erratically and got away."
Wellman said there is no video or radio calls of officers going after the car because it wasn't a pursuit.
"We wait for them to park again and then try to take them down," Wellman said.
Taylor's car was found days later by a nationwide recovery driver in a spot where cars stolen for chop shops are regularly dumped.
"My car got used for bait and got ruined in the process," Taylor said. "That's how I feel."
Taylor started a GoFundMe campaign to help put her car back together. You can contribute to her GoFundMe here.