DETROIT — For gas station owners in the City, running a business only seems to be getting more difficult and dangerous every day, as the rise of crime and poor police response times get worse. 

Last Sunday, during the early afternoon, $3,000 in merchandise was robbed from a station, after thieves came in and stole merchandise. The incident occurred after a man was asked to leave the store and became enraged, knocking over several items on the counter and pounding on the bullet proof glass. Thieves then came in, after grabbing merchandise off the shelves and knocking them over. One woman was spotted coming back to grab more items. 

The store’s manager says that a similar incident occurred a few years ago, and the station lost $7,000.  The manager did not want himself, or the station to be identified, in fear that the thieves would come back. He says that the station has been open for 10 years, but may not be around for another year. 

In an interview with local media, the store’s manager said that Detroit is not the same anymore, and the young generation is moving good citizens out of the City. The store’s manager says such incidents are actually very common, but most gas station owners don’t report them in fear of retaliation. 

Even after the incident occurred in the station, a man was caught on video, throwing a brick into the front door. The store’s manager says slow police response times and the shortage of officers are going to drive more businesses out of the City. 

In 2012, The Arab American News chronicled a day in the life of a Detroit gas station owner and spent an entire day at a station in the City, in an effort to spread awareness on the dangerous work environment of business owners there.

Just four weeks before TAAN interviewed the station’s owner, it had been held up at gun point by a man carrying an AK-47. Sam Chahro, the owner, called 911 which never came, even a month after the robbery.

For many Arab American gas station owners, such incidents have become normal, leaving them with no choice but to learn more about and deal with such situations. 

Middle Eastern Americans make up the majority of small business owners in Detroit. They contribute greatly to the City’s economy and have become the lifeblood of many neighborhoods that have been dying, yet their hardships often go unrecognized. Many station owners don’t expect the police to show up when they call. Today their challenges are tougher than ever as crime in the City is at its height.