Church Repo Shooting in Detroit – The First of Two for Agency

Video Shared in Agency Owners Interviews

Last Friday we reported on a police shooting of a borrower as she was opening gunfire on a repossession agent who had just repossessed her car. We also reported that the agent mentioned that the same thing had happened just the day before. Well, the Sheriff’s Department’s story the police told is way off and there is video to show it. But at least the press interviewed some local industry leaders to get the story straight on what is really going on in the industry!

Getting the Story Straight

The First and Underreported Detroit Repo Shooting From Last Week — Tolemite Recovery owner Brian Tolstedt and his second truck shot up last week

On Friday we reported an incident where the Detroit PD gunned down a woman in the process of shooting at a repossessor. What wasn’t mentioned, was the fact that the agent in the truck under fire narrowly missed being hit. One of the rounds that came through the back window grazed his head so close it knocked his baseball cap off!

What was mentioned at the tail end of the news story was that this had also happened to another agent working for the same company the day before.

On Thursday the 12^th, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department posted this on FaceBook.

Shots Fired

Eastpointe

15121 E 10 Mile Rd

Eastpointe & Roseville PD on scene investigating shots fired at a male that was attempting to repo a vehicle at Speedway. Suspect fled in a gold Chevy Malibu. No injuries reported.

Having spoken to the owner of the company involved in both shootings, the brief police post is pretty inaccurate.

Brian Tolstedt, owner of Tolemite Recovery reports that the incident began much earlier when the agent had just taken possession of a repossession at a church parking lot half a mile from where the police report at the gas station. The agent was making his departure with the unit when a man emerged and took a shot at them.

Church Repo Shooting in Detroit – The First of Two for Agency — Wednesday shooting which began at a church down the road. Shooter on the right – Click to enlarge

But it didn‘t end there. Soon after, a gold Impala, not a Malibu, took chase after them and caught up to him at the Speedway Gas Station where the truck sustained substantial damage from several gunshots fired at the agent before the shooter fled.

It was fortunately confirmed that the agent in the incident was indeed unharmed.

The Press Takes Notice

On Friday evening on channel 7 Detroit, they interviewed agency owners Brian Tolstedt, Jenny Liagre and George Badeen on the issue of escalating repossession violence. An issue which they all agree has reached levels never before seen.

Click the above image to view the video

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It’s Worse Than Any of Us Will Ever Know

This really illustrates how many incidents occur in the field that we never hear about. While some may complain that I report these stories too often, I suspect that I’m only reporting at most, maybe 10% of them. Most never make the news and its not something that agency owners like to broadcast.

For most of the history of the repossession industry, it was a society of silence. I remember being told by one of my old bosses that they didn’t want clients to know about these incidents, said it wasn’t good for business. This kind of denial still exists and the actual scale of the violence is heavily underreported.

Unfortunately, I fear that this attitude is partly to blame for some lender’s lack of respect for the dangers of the industry. This attitude may very well have paid a large part in lenders devaluing services and the fees needed to perform them safely. It’s something of a lose-lose situation.

Stay safe folks!

Kevin Armstrong

Publisher