DETROIT (WWJ) - A young man from Detroit has been charged in connection with the theft of several high performance vehicles from the Flat Rock Ford Assembly plant and fleeing police in the early morning hours of June 16.
Robert Anthony Smith, 19, was arraigned on multiple charges Friday afternoon after he was accused of stealing several Shelby GT500 Mustangs from a Downriver Ford plant on Thursday, Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced.
Michigan State Police allege that Smith helped steal the luxury cars around 3:30 a.m.; the theft was reported to the Flat Rock Police Department.
MSP said Smith was speeding in a 2022 Shelby GT500 and caught the attention of troopers patrolling the area near Outer Drive and Northbound I-75 Freeway in Melvindale.
The troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but allege that Smith took off in the vehicle.
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It eventually ran out of gas on westbound I-96, near Martin Luther King; it was driven up a grass embankment where officers blocked the car from rolling on to the freeway.
Smith was arrested by police without incident.
Worthy charged Smith with one count of Receiving and Concealing – $20,000 or more, one count of Receiving and Concealing – Motor Vehicle, one count of Unlawful Driving Away of a Motor Vehicle, and one count of Fourth Degree Fleeing.
He appeared in the 36th District Couth and was given a $10,000 personal bond with a GPS device.
Smith's next court date in scheduled for June 30 at 8:45 a.m.
MSP said three other Shelby GT500 vehicles were discovered abandoned at several locations around Detroit - they appeared to have also run out of gas.
The cars were towed and preserved for evidence.
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