A Fraser robbery victim's exgirlfriend is in police custody but her two alleged accomplices remain at large following an incident at a local motel, police said Thursday.
Investigators suspect the 22-year old victim was set up by suspect Nicole Birkenshaw and lured to the M97 Motel on Groesbeck.
Fraser Public Safety officials provided this account of the incident:
Birkenshaw, 22, of Eastpointe spoke with her exboyfriend and they agreed to meet at a market on Gratiot Avenue near 14 Mile Road in Clinton Township at approximately 12:30 p.m. Sunday. She suggested they go to the M97 Motel, and rode in his vehicle to get there. When they arrived, she began texting. Approximately 20 minutes later, she stepped from the motel room to get a soda. Shortly after she returned to the room, two men not known by the Fraser resident entered. "One put a boxcutter to his neck, told him to give him everything he has. (The victim) told him he didn't have anything," Detective Lt. Dan Kolke said. The weapon-wielding man punched the victim as the second man restrained him wh i 1 e holding a large kitchen knife. The victim's ex-girlfriend also punched him in the head, police said.
The culprits stole the Fraser man's shirt, shoes, hat, jewelry, cellphone and 5600. The trio exited the room and fled a few moments later in an old blue Cadillac.
Wearing only a windbreaker jacket, the victim drove around and spotted his ex-girlfriend walking alone along Masonic. The Fraser resident drove up to her but she entered a vehicle that pulled up with two men inside. The victim, whose name was not revealed by police, unsuccessfully tried to find them before returning to the motel to call police.
After Fraser officers broad cast an alert about the violent robbers, St. Clair Shores police found the Cadillac with a flat tire in the 14 Mile Road-Harper Road area, Investigators reaclae'd relatives of Birkenshaw. She turned herself in Wednesday at the Fraser Public Safety Department, accompanied by her attorney, James Galen.
She was arraigned Thursday by 39th District Judge Catherine Steenland on a charge of armed robbery. Steenland allowed the Eastpointe woman to be released on a personal recognizance bond. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Galen said. "She is looking forward to dealing with (the accusations) in court. Her involvement is minimal, if at all, in this incident.
Kolke said the other suspects, whom he identified as Joseph Culp. 32, and his brother, Jason Culp, 35, are named in warrants charging them with armed robbery.
Police said the brothers should be considered armed and dangerous and ask that anyone with information to call the Fraser Department of Public Safety at 586-293-1425 or Crime Stoppers of Michi-gan at 313-922-5000.
— Staff writer Norb Franz
By Norb Franz
norbfranz@macombdaily.com
@NorbFranz on Twitter
One of two brothers wanted in connection for the robbery of a Fraser man at a local motel has surrendered to police.
An attorney phoned the Public Safety Department Friday morning to report suspect Joseph Culp was willing to turn himself in. With a warrant for his arrest publicized Thursday by news outlets including The Macomb Daily, Culp, 32, of Roseville, walked into the public safety department at approximately 12:30 p.m. Friday and was taken into custody, Fraser Detective Lt. Dan Kolke said.
Culp was arraigned Friday on one count of armed robbery and jailed in lieu of $200,000 bond, police said. From Thursday afternoon to Friday morning, investigators received "a ton" of tips from the public about Joseph Culp and his 35-year-old brother, Jason, said Kolke. "He came in and said he knew we were after him," Kolke said of the younger brother. "He had no idea we were after him until it came out in the news."
The Culp brothers and 22-year-old Nicole Birkenshaw are charged with armed robbery for an incident in the early afternoon of Jan. 3 at the M97 motel on Groesbeck, police said.
According to police, a 22-year-old Fraser man reported he conversed with Birkenshaw — his ex-girlfriend — on Facebook and then by phone before agreeing to meet at a market on Gratiot Avenue near 14 Mile Road in Clinton Township at approximately 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Police provided this account of what followed:
Birkenshaw suggested they go to the M97 Motel,
and rode in his vehicle to get there. When they arrived, Birkenshaw began texting. Approximately 20 minutes later, she stepped from the hotel room to get a soda. Shortly after she returned to the room, two men entered. One put a boxcutter to the victim's neck and punched him while the other man — brandishing a large kitchen knife — restrained the victim. The female suspect punched him in the head, police said. The robbers took the victim's shirt, shoes, hat, jewelry, cellphone and $600. The trio fled, and the abandoned getaway car was found with a flat tire by St. Clair Shores police near 14 Mile Road and Harper.
Birkenshaw turned herself in Wednesday at the Fraser Public Safety Department, accompanied by an attorney. That lawyer, James Galen, told the newspaper she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and had little involvement, if any, in the incident.
She was formally charged Thursday on the charge of armed robbery and released on a personal recognizance bond set by 39th District Judge Catherine Steenland. Joseph Culp, formerly of Chesterfield Township, has run afoul of the law before, according to Macomb County Circuit Court records. He pleaded guilty in 2000 to first-degree home invasion in exchange for a dismissal of a separate home invasion case, the records show.
He was sentenced to 85-240 months in prison. In another related case, he pleaded guilty to second-degree home invasion and was ordered to prison for 38-180 months.
Meantime, Jason Culp remains at large. Police request anyone with information about him to call the Fraser Department of Public Safety at 586-293-1425 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 313-922-5000.
By Norb Franz,
The Macomb Daily
The third and final suspect in the robbery of a man at a Fraser motel earlier this month was arrested by police Tuesday.
Jason Culp, 35, was taken into custody late afternoon while picking up a prescription at a pharmacy in Chesterfield Township, said Detective Lt. Dan Kolke of the Fraser Public Safety Department. Culp was arraigned Wednesday in 39th District Court on one count of armed robbery. He is jailed in lieu of $200,000 bond.
Culp and two other suspects were the subjects of a police manhunt following the Jan. 3 robbery of a 22-year-old Fraser resident at the M97 Motel on Groesbeck Highway.
According to public safety officials, the victim reported he conversed with Nicole Birkenshaw –- his ex-girlfriend –- on Facebook and then by phone before agreeing to meet at a market on Gratiot Avenue near 14 Mile Road in Clinton Township.
Birkenshaw suggested they go to the M97 Motel, and rode in his vehicle to get there, police said.
When they arrived, Birkenshaw began texting. Approximately 20 minutes later, she stepped from the hotel room to get a soda. Shortly after she returned to the room, two men entered.
One put a box-cutter to the victim’s neck and punched him while the other man –- brandishing a large kitchen knife –- restrained the victim, police said. The female suspect punched him in the head, officials said.
The robbers took the victim’s shirt, shoes, hat, jewelry, cellphone and $600. The trio fled, and the abandoned getaway car was found with a flat tire near 14 Mile Road and Harper by St. Clair Shores police.
Birkenshaw, 22, turned herself in to police three days after the incident. She faces one count of armed robbery and is free on personal recognizance bond.
Her lawyer, James Galen, last week told The Macomb Daily she was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and had little involvement, if any, in the incident.
Culp’s 32-year-old brother, Joseph Culp, also of Roseville, surrendered to a warrant Jan. 8 after police received numerous tips about his whereabouts following news reports that he was wanted by law enforcers. He is jailed on $200,000 bond.
Joseph Culp, formerly of Chesterfield Township, has run afoul of the law before, according to Macomb County Circuit Court records. He pleaded guilty in 2000 to first-degree home invasion in exchange for a dismissal of a separate home invasion case, the records show.
He was sentenced to 85-240 months in prison. In another related case, he pleaded guilty to second-degree home invasion and was ordered to prison for 38-180 months.
Following his arrest Tuesday night, Jason Culp admitted he went to the motel with his brother while Birkenshaw was there, but denied wrongdoing.
“He kept coming up with different stories about what happened,” Kolke said. “I think they’re all equally involved.”
The detective believes the motivation for the robbery was to obtain money to buy heroin.