Three teens face life sentence in home invasion charge
By Charles Sercombe
The talk in Hamtramck 31st District Court on Tuesday afternoon was the shock in how young they looked.
Too young, court observers said, to have possibly committed the horrible crime they are charged with.
Mind boggling, really.
But the reality is, three 17-year-olds, who apparently have been living on the streets, are being charged with breaking into an 80-year-old woman’s house late at night and beating her on the head with a pry bar.
Repeatedly.
Viciously, police say.
In court, they looked like kids.
Nathanael Haas, of Troy, Andrew DePauw, of Berkley, and Albert Daka, of Hamtramck, face charges of home invasion, assault with intent to rob while armed and two other types of assault charges.
They are being charged as adults and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison, although at their age they will likely face just a few years in prison, investigators say.
Police say that on June 5, at 1:30 a.m., the trio broke into the woman’s house on the 5000 block of Trowbridge St.
The woman was up at the time and managed to call 911 before the three began beating her.
Police arrived in minutes and saw the three striking the woman in the head several times.
The woman, who police decline to identify at this time, survived and was treated for deep cuts to her head.
The three managed to escape before police could get to them.
Thanks to good police work, and the assistance of the Madison Heights K-9 unit, material left behind at the scene led to the arrest of one suspect and then the two others by the next day.
Relatives of the three were in the court, openly sobbing. They told police investigators after the court hearing that all three had a history of trouble at home. All three were apparently living out of a stolen car.
According to Detective Derek Suwalkowski, Daka suggested breaking into the woman’s house because he believed she had money stashed away.
The suspects are being held in Wayne County Jail in lieu of posting a $1 million bond. (Daka was given a $500,000 bond.)
They are scheduled to have a preliminary examination on June 17.
Wow, I hope These kids Get Life! Punk ass Little kids
this is what happens when parents dont take responsibility for the lives they’ve created.
I bet none of them were registered as missing.
This is really sad,being that i was raise in hamtramck and can remember the days when you can sleep with your doors unlock and when kids had the up most respect for their elderly. But i think you did the crime then you need to pay.
The friends of these dirtbags are talking all kinds of smack over on the WDIV website. If any of you scumbags are reading this, I say to you: They are trash, they are no better than animals that deserve to go away for life.
i was a friend of Albert and Drew. i’m ashamed at them for beating her. it is not true that they were living in the car. but it is true that they were living on the street pretty much. their parents crying is ridiculous. they never cared before but now they want all the publicity and pity they can get. well screw all of them. they beat a poor old lady and its the parents faults too. i’m embarrassed to say i was ever a friend.
I KNOW HIM!!!!
WE DATED!!!
HOW COULD HE DO THISSS
!!
Okayyy shut the hell up to who is saying they are trash. NONE of you know what albert went through okayyyyyy. Get that through your selfish little heads/
so, tell us, what do you have to go through to justify trying to beat an old lady to death? well we’re listening…
Sounds like these kids needed to be beat more when they were younger.
ever since corporal punishment was reclassified as child abuse by the liberals the quality of our children’s respect for rules and laws has gone downhill. when i was a kid, if i got a spanking it was because i deserved it and guess what, i learned my lesson.
I DATED albert and was BEST FRIENDS with nate. Everyone saying that they should die and get life u didnt know them. I’m not proud of what they did but if u knew them you would feel this way too. It’s something that’s hard to deal with for all of the people who knew them. they know what they did and they dont need a bunch of people rubbing it in their faces. Bottom line is that i pretty sure they regret what happend. you guys just didnt know them so u can’t understand why their friends and that are saying things like this and crying in court. if i could of gone i would have. To be there for them.
I don’t have to know them to understand why they did this! The fact of the matter is, be resposible…GET A JOB! This is the option they CHOSE! These kids have real deep rooted issues of anger and need to get help. Unfortunately, they may not get the correct help they need. Do the crime, do the time! They’re old enough to understand this and what’s RIGHT and WRONG!
STOP blaming the parents. It is now a well known fact that criminals are born, not created by their enviroment or a lack of disipline in the home. A child who is a criminal has a genetic disposition to become one, and seeks out others who are like him.
The statement that criminals are “born” and not created is pure ignorance and accepted by those with IQ’s under 70. I have been involved in many probate cases and witnessed that the problem usually involves lack of parenting knowledge, not bad parents just bad parenting. To imply that they should have been beat more is even worse….don’t you get it? VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE!!!! Where do you think they learned it from? It’s not for me or anyone to judge them until their day in court comes and then what will be will be.
i knew one of the kids. what a idiot
OMG!!! nOOOOO WAAAYYY!!! I was friends with nate for a long time and daka!! that is sooooo super sad!!!! poor things man…very dissapointing! I hope that they dont stay in there for a long time i hope they can get help and rehab! Aww that makes me cry!! all we can do is prayers!
To all of you that defend them shut up. What if someone came up to you or someone you know and beat the hell out of you or them with a metal stick. You’re not going to sit there oh what did he go through you’re going to press charges. Don’t sit there and even try to defend this stuff its terrible all of you should be ashamed of yourselves for standing up for them. They beat up a helpless old lady I don’t see anything they could have gone through that would have caused them to do this, they are just plain dumb and don’t use their heads to think.
i know all 3 of them. Nate would NEVER hit an elderly women and he got the most time out of the 3. they are good kids and just made mistake. they dont deserve life.
I new daka bad mistake that he made always made dumb choices and did stupied things. But he had a good heart he does not deserve life, I pray he gets out soon and if he does to strightin out his life.