Pontiac man allegedly forced driver with loaded AR-15
A driver who was reportedly being threatened by a man with a loaded assault rifle as he drove him through Pontiac avoided injury after driving toward a group of patrol cars he spotted and getting pulled over as he had hoped, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.
The incident subsequently led to Pontiac resident Hilbin Yamil CollazoCruz, 20, being charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a loaded firearm. Arraignment was held Dec. 1 before 50th District Judge Cynthia Walker and CollazoCruz was released on personal bond, which means he didn’t have to put up any bail money.
According to the sheriff’s office, the driver told detectives that he had initially agreed to give Collazo-Cruz a ride to his mother’s house. Collazo- Cruz got into the vehicle’s backseat with a black bag and pulled out an AR-15, and in response the driver told him to leave. But Collazo-Cruz refused to do so, then pushed the assault rifle into the driver’s back and ordered him to drive, the sheriff’s office said.
As the driver complied, fearing for his life, he saw deputies’ patrol cars in the area and headed toward them. He was subsequently pulled over, despite CollazoCruz telling him not to stop, the sheriff’s office said.
At the traffic stop, the driver reportedly told deputies there was a rifle in the backseat, which CollazoCruz claimed was his, the sheriff’s office said. CollazoCruz also reportedly said he had recently found it and that it was stolen. A vehicle search turned up a loaded Alex Pro AR-15 rifle with an attached drum magazine containing 45 live .223 caliber rounds. Two other magazines with 19 and 49 rounds of the same size ammunition were located underneath the backseat near the rifle, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver and CollazoCruz were then arrested while another passenger was released. The driver detailed what had led up to the incident during an interview at the Pontiac substation, the sheriff’s office said, and Collazo-Cruz was subsequently charged.
The sheriff’s office said that patrol deputies involved in the traffic stop and arrests had been in the area in response to a caller reporting three people, possibly armed, were driving around in a white pickup truck with a landscaping logo, and threatening to shoot someone in the North Hills Farms apartment complex in Pontiac.
The vehicle pulled over matched the description given.
“I appreciate the public calling Dispatch about this very dangerous, evolving situation which allowed our great Deputies to locate and intervene during this potentially deadly moment,” Sheriff Mike Bouchard stated in a news release. “Taking dangerous people off the street is what we do on a daily basis.”
Collazo-Cruz’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 10.