
A Pontiac man, Joel Stalker, 35, faces serious charges after a threatening episode at a Kroger store last Saturday, ClickOnDetroit reports. Stalker is accused of armed robbery, assaulting a police officer, and felony firearm possession after he allegedly stole a prepaid cell phone and brandished a pistol at store employees.
The incident, which police say occurred around 9:45 p.m. February 24 at the Kroger on Maple Road and Woodward Avenue, escalated when Stalker threatened to shoot any employee who confronted him and warned of violence against police if they were called, during the chase he was quickly located hiding behind a bank parking lot and when Birmingham police commanded him to surrender, he reportedly attempted to attack them.
Stalker was apprehended and found to be carrying an Airsoft gun along with the stolen merchandise from Kroger. Charged in 48th District Court, Stalker's bail was set to $100,000 cash/surety, no 10% option, as indicated by reports from The Oakland Press. His next court dates include a probable cause conference on March 11 and a preliminary examination on March 18.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald underscored the gravity of the crime, assertive that "an armed robbery is terrifying for the victims, and it erodes a sense of safety in the entire community" and reckoned that public safety was at the topmost hierarchy of her office's concerns, striving to hold those accountable for such transgressions "who commit these violent crimes," she mentioned in a statement acquired by Hometown Life.
The charges Stalker faces carry severe penalties: armed robbery could result in life imprisonment, assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer up to two years and/or a $2,000 fine, and a mandatory two-year sentence awaits for felony firearm infractions, consecutive to any other imposed sentence.