Trouble follows after Detroit's Annie helped

Trouble follows after Detroit's Annie helped

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  • Trouble follows after Detroit's Annie helped

  • Thursday, November 29 2012 10:42 PM EST2012-11-30 03:42:49 GMT
    When we first brought you Annie's story, she was living with no heat in her Detroit home.  Thanks to some very generous people, she now has a new furnace.
    When we first brought you Annie's story, she was living with no heat in her Detroit home.  Thanks to some very generous people, she now has a new furnace.
  • Monday, November 19 2012 10:15 PM EST2012-11-20 03:15:44 GMT
    As the holidays approach, we're all reminded to think about those who are less fortunate.  That's exactly what's taking place in one Detroit neighborhood.
    As the holidays approach, we're all reminded to think about those who are less fortunate.  That's exactly what's taking place in one Detroit neighborhood.  Two people once couldn't stand the sight of each other.  Now one is relying on the other for survival.

By Charlie LeDuff
Fox 2 News


DETROIT (WJBK) -- Annie the old shut in was trapped in her collapsing house with no heat, water or friends.  Harold, her neighbor, never liked her much, but he stepped up.  That's called decency, something we're in need of.

We aired their story and following Harold's lead Detroit responded.  We got her some heat.  We boarded up the shattered windows and cleaned the garbage that was smothering her.

Then last week they broke in through a window.  You know, they -- that ubiquitous, faceless gang that brings us all down.

"Went up through the back stairway all the way up to the second floor and then kicked in the door up there," Harold explained.  "She heard them and started yelling, and fortunately the door held and with her yelling, finally they left."

"That's the only answer, really, is to get her out of here."

"I heard a noise banging on this door... and I kept on saying, 'Who is it?  Who is it?'  No answer.  So then I kept on saying, 'John, get the gun, get the gun,'" said Annie.  "And he left, but I didn't hear (anything) going down the stairs or up the stairs."

Who's John?

"I just said John.  You mention a gun, they'll run."

They break in all the time and take even what's nailed down, but Annie won't go.  They raped her a decade ago and still she stays.  Take her out, she says, and she'd die anyway.

"Listen it's your choice, it's your life, but I don't want this last story to be that we had to carry you out of here because somebody murdered you," I said to Annie.

"I know, but when you got to go, you got to go," she answered.

"They always get away with it.  They break in.  They rob.  They steal.  They murder.  They don't care.  The average person doesn't hardly have a chance," said Harold.  "It just makes me sick to my stomach because I don't know what to do anymore.  I mean, I though we were doing the right thing and we were helping her and we're going to get everything under control, but as you see, they don't care."

"We got to start standing up and saying we are going to do something about it.  We are going to change the rules."

Harold's right.  There are more of we than they.  We have to remember that and look out for each other.

  • Charlie LeDuffCharlie LeDuff

  • Off the Chain Editorial

    Friday, May 17 2013 5:25 PM EDT2013-05-17 21:25:50 GMT
    Following Minister Louis Farrakhan's message on Friday, Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff hit the streets to scrounge around for some available investment properties, and guess what he found?
    Following Minister Louis Farrakhan's message on Friday, Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff hit the streets to scrounge around for some available investment properties, and guess what he found?
  • Thursday, May 16 2013 7:45 PM EDT2013-05-16 23:45:45 GMT
    Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff attended a Detroit City Council meeting.  On the agenda, some questions about a developer who is being allowed to take his time paying back a $19-million dollar loan.
    On Thursday, Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff attended a Detroit City Council meeting.  On the meeting agenda, some questions about a developer with connections to city hall who received a letter that told him he was allowed to take his time paying back a $19-million dollar loan.
  • Wednesday, May 15 2013 11:16 PM EDT2013-05-16 03:16:04 GMT
    Dave Bing might run for Wayne County executive, but a condition is the officer holder must be a county resident. Charlie LeDuff decides to help his old buddy out with a few options on where he can live.
    Dave Bing might run for Wayne County executive, but a condition is the officer holder must be a county resident. Charlie LeDuff decides to help his old buddy out with a few options on where he can live.
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