STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – A man has been found guilty of two charges linked to an armed robbery in which three people were forced into a Sterling Heights apartment at gunpoint.
Armed robbery
On Nov. 1, 2021, Marques Watson, 21, of Detroit, drove four people to an apartment in Sterling Heights, according to authorities.
Three people were forced into the apartment at gunpoint. Personal belongings were taken from the apartment, and a 2016 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat was stolen.
State troopers, as well as officers from Sterling Heights and Warren, chased the stolen car on Van Dyke Avenue in the middle of rush hour traffic. The pursuit ended when stop sticks flattened the Hellcat’s tires.
Watson fled from police and hid with three of the suspected gunmen at an apartment in Warren, officials said. They were all taken into custody.
Here’s our coverage from the day of the incident:
Charges
Watson was convicted Wednesday, May 3, 2023, by a Macomb County jury on one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and one count of third-degree fleeing a police officer.
Conspiracy to commit armed robbery carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and third-degree fleeing a police officer has a max sentence of 5 years.
Watson was convicted after a five-day jury trial. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. June 15 in Macomb County Circuit Court.
“Thank you, Sterling Heights Police Department, Warren Police Department, and the FBI Joint Task Force for getting five guns off the streets, including three stolen guns and one with an attachment that made it fully automatic,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said.
