Stolen statue of Tuskegee airman found

DETROIT (AP) — A 600-pound (272-kilogram) bronze statue of a Tuskegee airman has been discovered after it was stolen from a metropolis park, Detroit police stated Friday.

The statue of Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson was reported lacking Wednesday night from Rouge Park on Detroit’s far west aspect, police stated.

It appeared to have been sawed off on the ankles. Investigators imagine the statue was taken someday Tuesday night time or early Wednesday morning.

Mayor Mike Duggan informed reporters Friday that officers canvassed the neighborhood and decided the time when the statue was stolen. Surveillance cameras on close by companies confirmed a big rental truck leaving the world.

Officers then spoke to operators of the rental truck firm and discovered the truck has GPS, Duggan stated.

“(Officers) came upon the one that rented it was suspected of different robberies,” he stated. “They ran him down in actual time, caught him. He turned over the statue, confessed and we made two arrests.”

Particulars of the arrests weren’t instantly launched Friday.

Jefferson was a member of the famed Crimson Tails throughout World Struggle II. The unit escorted bombers over Europe. Jefferson was shot down and held as a prisoner of conflict. He returned house to Detroit following his launch.

Jefferson later taught in faculties and served as a vice principal. He additionally helped kind the Tuskegee Airmen chapter in Detroit.

The airmen have been the nation’s first all-Black air fighter squadron. They educated and fought individually from white fighter models as a consequence of segregation within the U.S. navy. Their unit was based mostly in Tuskegee, Alabama, however Michigan served as a complicated coaching floor throughout the conflict.

Jefferson’s statue was unveiled in June. The ceremony was attended by Duggan, Jefferson’s household and his former college students. A plaza for the statue additionally was constructed.

Jefferson flew mannequin airplanes within the space of the park the place the statue was positioned. That area already had been named for him. He was honored in 2021 by the town on his one centesimal birthday. Jefferson died in 2022.

“Lt. Col. Jefferson was a hero in each sense of the phrase and so richly deserves this honor,” Duggan stated throughout the statue’s unveiling. “He distinguished himself as a Tuskegee Airman and prisoner of conflict in World Struggle II, and once more at house as a celebrated educator. The individuals of Detroit are deeply grateful to him for his service and this plaza and statue is a mirrored image of our collective appreciation.”