Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the arrest and arraignments of four additional members of an alleged criminal organization responsible for the thefts of hundreds of vehicles in Southeast Michigan.
The charges stem from a May 2024 bust of a massive car theft operation involving more than 400 cars in more than 40 cities in Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
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The criminal ring allegedly targets new vehicle storage lots, car dealerships, parking lots, and individual residences.
Nessel said that the four defendants, whose arrests were announced on Tuesday (Jan. 7), allegedly carried out thefts on more than a dozen occasions in 2024.
Officials alleged stolen vehicles were sold significantly below market value on the black market to buyers seeking unregistered vehicles.
Stolen vehicles have been linked to other criminal activity. The group is suspected of using countersurveillance to steal vehicles quickly and efficiently, allegedly using violence and ramming security vehicles if confronted.
The Troy Police Department has been investigating the crime ring since August 2023. In early 2024, they partnered with the FORCE Team to bring down the expansive criminal organization.
The investigation has been aided by the efforts of local police agencies, including the municipal police departments of Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield Township, Canton, Dearborn, Detroit, Eastpointe, Farmington Hills, Lansing, Livonia, Novi, Roseville, Royal Oak, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Walled Lake, and Warren, as well as the Oakland County Auto Theft Group and Macomb County Auto Theft Unit.
Troy police, the Michigan State Police, and the Detroit Police Department’s Commercial Auto Theft Unit executed four arrest warrants on Jan. 2, 2025.
The four defendants were taken into custody, and a large quantity of electronic key fobs and cash were seized.
Each defendant has been charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, a 20-year felony.
Charged and arrested in connection to these thefts are:
- Davonta Jones, 31, of Detroit, has been additionally charged with eight counts of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle
- Donovan Tucker, 22, of Detroit, has been additionally charged with eight counts of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle
- Davion Tucker, 21, of Detroit, has been additionally charged with seven counts of Receiving and Concealing a stolen motor vehicle
- Timothy Bell, 23, of Detroit, has been additionally charged with 10 counts of receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle
Jones, Donovan, and Davion were arraigned on Jan. 3 in the 19th District Court in Dearborn.
Each was given a $500,000 cash/surety bond and scheduled for a probable cause conference on Jan. 17.
Bell was arraigned on Jan. 3 in the 1st District Court in Monroe. He was given a $500,000 cash/surety bond and scheduled for a probable cause conference on Jan. 14.
This case remains an ongoing investigation.
The video below was previously covered back in 2024.
