CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Police said a man purposely rammed into the back of a vehicle early Friday in Chesterfield Township to rob the driver.
A woman and her elderly parents were traveling on Fairchild Road near 23 Mile Road when someone hit them about 12:30 a.m., causing their vehicle to spin, police said.
“They thought it was an accident,” said Sgt. Ken Anderson, with Chesterfield police.
Police said driver of the other vehicle, Simoun Dankha, 32, of Sterling Heights, approached the vehicle and demanded the driver and her mother give him their purses. The victims told police the man had a gun and threatened to shoot them if they didn’t give him the purses.
The driver, who is from Macomb Township, said the man was becoming impatient so she gave him her purse. She told police he ran to his vehicle and fled the scene.
Chesterfield police sent a message to other Macomb County police departments to be on the lookout for the man. Minutes later, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department saw the man driving on I-94 near Metro Parkway.
Dankha was taken into custody without incident, and the victim’s purse was found, police said. Police Dankha confessed to the crime, but during his arraignment, insisted he didn’t have a gun.
“I don’t even own a gun or shoot a gun -- only a gun up north,” he said.
Dankha is charged with two counts of armed robbery and felonious assault.