Month: December 2023

Prosecutors in Detroit say that a man being held in connection with the fatal stabbing of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, and has been charged with her murder. The suspect, Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, of Detroit, was taken into custody Sunday as part of the investigation into Woll’s death outside her home in October. Jackson-Bolanos has pleaded not guilty, and was returned to jail without bond.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy shared that there are “no facts to suggest” that the suspect knew Woll, or that her killing was motivated by antisemitism, adding at a news conference: ‘there’s not a shred of evidence to suggest this was a hate crime.’  The suspect faces additional charges of breaking and entering without permission and lying to a peace officer.  Detroit Police Chief James White said the suspects was being investigated for larcenies in the area of Woll’s home, but had been released, adding that ‘once he was released, we kept an eye on him until we had enough to ultimately make an arrest.’

Woll had served as board president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit and worked in Democratic politics in Michigan. Her family thanked Detroit police’s homicide task force through their attorney, saying: “through their dedication and tireless efforts we firmly believe that they have successfully solved this senseless crime. We cannot thank them enough.”

The 40-year-old Woll was a high-profile member of the city’s Jewish community and her slaying came amid heightened tensions and growing antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the U.S. following the conflict in the Gaza Strip, however investigators reiterate there was no information suggesting her death was a hate crime.

Editorial credit: Jay Fog / Shuttestock.com

Police are searching for a man suspected of trying to abduct three different women near the University of Arizona campus in Tucson this past week. The Tucson Police Department said in a news release that the abduction attempts happened on three different days and in three different off-campus locations, adding that they have identified at least two of the victims as students at the university, both of whom were assaulted in the incidents. The third woman is a student at University of Arizona, as well.

Officers with the University of Arizona Police Department received a call from a student on Sunday, reporting that a man approached her from behind, put his arm around her waist and assaulted her. The student was not injured, police said, and after she screamed, the suspect ran off.  Another victim reported to Tucson Police’s sexual assault unit that she had been followed by a driver matching the suspect’s description on Wednesday morning, Dec. 6, and also shared an updated description of the suspect and his vehicle.

Tuscan Police have described the suspect as a man with a dark complexion, possibly Hispanic, between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, with a medium to heavyset build and “close buzz cut hair.” The suspect was seen driving a “dark purplish four-door hatchback or crossover vehicle with a dented front bumper, tinted windows, and no front license plate”.  According to police, the vehicle is either a dark blue 2000s Toyota Camry or Toyota Corolla.

Chris Dennison, the assistant police chief in Tucson, asked members of the surrounding community to help by joining the police department’s open camera registry, which “allows residents and business owners to voluntarily register their surveillance cameras with the police department.”   In addition, he said both the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service have also joined their search for the suspect.

Editorial credit: Katherine Welles / Shuttestock.com