What we’ve learned about a deadly fight inside GM Orion Assembly plant

‘He’d give you the shirt off his back, and I mean he’s had some problems and who hasn’t, you know, but for the most part, he was a good guy’

DETROITGM’s Orion Assembly plant has closed as investigators work to get to the bottom of what really happened inside.

The sheriff’s office says two building cleaners got into the fight around 1:30 a.m.

More than 1,250 people work at Orion Assembly. They build the Chevy Bolt and do it on an early first shift. That means it opens at 6 a.m. and goes to two or three in the afternoon. So the plant had been quiet for about 12 hours when this all happened.

About 1:30 a.m., the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office got the initial call for a man down inside the Orion Assembly plant.

When officers arrived, they found 49-year-old Gregory Robertson lying on the floor, bleeding from the head.

CPR was performed, but he could not be revived.

Read: Cleaning service employee murders co-worker during fight at GM Orion Assembly plant, police say

Robertson worked for a third-party cleaning crew, but they weren’t working on bathrooms. They worked on robots and paint shops.

Robertson’s wife, Colette Robertson, has a family friend who worked with her husband. She called Colette Robertson, and she immediately rushed to the plant.

She went into the security office and found out her husband had died at the hospital.

“I don’t believe it,” said Colette Robertson. “I’m still in shock.”

Colette Robertson told Local 4 that her husband had worked the overnight shift at Orion Assembly for the past seven months and sometimes had minor issues with co-workers, but nothing like this.

“He’d give you the shirt off his back, and I mean he’s had some problems and who hasn’t, you know, but for the most part, he was a good guy,” Colette Robertson said. “He’s done some bad things; he paid the price for it. He’s been home the last two years, and he’s been doing such a great job.”

The cleaning crew didn’t have many team members, but upon arrival, officers found another crew member standing near a loading dock where they found Greg Robertson’s body.

Police said they arrested that man, 48 years old, and he’s in the Oakland County jail Thursday (Aug. 11) night.

The prosecutor’s office may charge him with murder at an arraignment Friday.

As for the plant, it sat idle Thursday but should reopen in the morning.

Click here to visit the GoFundMe page.


About the Authors

Rod Meloni is an Emmy Award-winning Business Editor on Local 4 News and a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional.

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.

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