16-year-old female student abducted at gunpoint

Donald J. Fields

By Charles Sercombe
Thanks to tips from the public and fast police work, a 16-year-old female who was allegedly kidnapped early Monday morning was rescued.
The female is a student at Frontier International Academy, who was waiting at a bus stop at Edwin and Pulaski at about 7 a.m. on Monday morning.
That’s when a male suspect armed with a gun abducted her and forced her into his vehicle, according to police.
The student was found by police officers within a half-hour, thanks to tips from fellow students who helped police track down her location via their cellphones.
The suspect, who Mayor Adam Alharbi said has a criminal history that includes rape, was apprehended without incident.
“This appears to be an isolated incident,” said Police Chief Hussein Farhat, at a press conference held in city hall. “It happened very quickly.”
The suspect, Donald J. Fields, 48, of Detroit, was arraigned Thursday morning in Hamtramck 31st District Court, where he was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of kidnapping, one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, one count of felonious assault, and five counts of felony firearm. He was also charged as a habitual offender, third offense.
Fields is being held without bond and is being held in Wayne County Jail.
During his arraignment on Thursday, Judge Alexis Krot said she denied bond because Fields “is the ultimate public safety risk to this community.”
Krot said that this alleged assault is “every parent and child’s nightmare – a child abducted on the way to school. He is a danger to public safety.”
The judge also noted that Fields claimed he had no prior criminal history despite his record, which also influenced her decision to deny bond.
“There’s not a bond that can be set to keep the community safe from Mr. Fields,” she said.
Farhat praised the quick work by officers and detectives.
“I believe a child’s life was saved because of the officers,” he said. “The suspect wasn’t able to get far.”
The kidnapping case took an unexpected turn when the suspect and teen walked into a gas station at Conant and Nevada, just north of Hamtramck, where the suspect ordered the teen to pay for cigarettes.
The clerk at the gas station became alarmed when the teen silently mouthed the word “Help.”
That clerk, Abdulrahman Abohatem, came out from his enclosure and separated the teen from the suspect. The clerk then walked the suspect outside just as Hamtramck police officers were pulling up.
Abohatem told media outlets: “I see the police outside. I point to him. I go, ‘That’s the guy.’”
The suspect was apprehended without incident.
Abohatem received praise for his handling of the situation.
The incident quickly got the attention of various media outlets locally, statewide and nationally. A report of the incident was also broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Mayor Alharbi said he hopes that, if the suspect is found guilty, he will face the “highest maximum punishment permitted by law. We will make sure he gets what he deserves.”
A resident, Um Hamza, said on social media that her daughter was on a school bus to Frontier shortly after the abduction. That’s when her daughter became aware of the incident, saying:
“One girl comes running and crying saying her friend was just kidnapped. She (the victim) was walking to the bus stop when a guy wearing a mask snatched her.”
Frontier is a charter school located on Conant. It is not part of the Hamtramck Public School District.
The president of the HPS Board of Education, Abdulmalik Algahaim, said the incident is a reminder for parents to be aware.
“As in any instance that threatens the safety of our children, it is very important they know what to do. Please speak with your children on a daily basis about their day to see if anything has happened that would cause alarm,” Algahaim said.

Hamtramck’s police department says it will step up patrols, and at Tuesday’s city council meeting, the department received the go-ahead to purchase more Flock surveillance cameras.
Updated April 17, 2026