Family helps Southfield Police in assault case

SOUTHFIELD — “When there’s an assault on our senior community, this police department takes these things very seriously, and it’s our responsibility to give the family some closure,” Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren stated at a press conference June 14 in the Southfield Police Department.

At approximately 11:34 p.m. May 30, Southfield Police received a report of a man down in a median. Officers located Maurice Elmore, a 79-year-old Southfield resident, standing on the northwest corridor of Telegraph Road and observed him holding himself up on a support cable. Elmore had been severely beaten but was able to inform the officers that he had been assaulted. He was immediately transported to Providence Hospital for advanced medical treatment. On June 10, Elmore passed away due to his injuries.

Elmore had been walking in the area of Telegraph and Franklin roads when a suspect approached him and assaulted him, kicking and punching him, causing significant injuries. According to surveillance footage obtained by the Southfield Police Department, the suspect had been watching Elmore. As the two crossed paths, the suspect ran at Elmore and attacked him from behind. The suspect separated from the victim briefly before running back toward him and attacking him a second time. This caused the victim to fall to the ground. While on the ground, the suspect continuously assaulted Elmore, kicking and punching him. The suspect approached Elmore a third time, but the incident was not captured, so it is unknown what occurred during this third encounter, police said. During the incident, the suspect took Elmore’s wallet and cellphone.

The wallet and cellphone belonging to Elmore were recovered from the home of the suspect, who police identified as 26-year-old Southfield resident Stavon Lindsay.

During the press conference, Barren thanked the family for their involvement in the case. He explained that the family realized that Elmore’s cellphone was missing, so they logged into his account, looked at his recent call log history and were able to determine who had been using this phone.

“They were able to really help the police officers out in our investigation, because now we have immediate evidence of who may have used that phone, what time the phone was operating, rather than waiting on a search warrant to come back from the local provider,” Barren said. “So, the timeline was really minimized, thanks to his family getting involved, which ultimately led us to identifying the suspect’s residence … to speak to the suspect’s family members. And we also learned that the suspect used the victim’s phone, used Mr. Elmore’s phone to call a family member to pick him up from the area of 10 Mile and Evergreen. And so that was significant information.”

Elmore’s daughter, Jill Elmore, said the family got involved because they wanted to do what they could and didn’t want the case to go cold.

Lindsay was arrested by Southfield detectives at noon June 12. He has been charged with murder, assault and battery, and malicious destruction of a building and property, and he was denied bond. An attorney for Lindsay could not be reached for comment by press time.

Barren said that Lindsay has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His criminal history consists of narcotic-related offenses. He also had an outstanding arrest warrant from the Third Circuit Court for probation violation, with the original offense of possession of methamphetamines.

“What we learned at the gathering of video surveillance for multiple businesses along Telegraph was that the suspect committed a series of misdemeanor and property crimes, which ultimately led him to encounter Mr. Elmore,” Barren stated.

The surveillance footage shows Lindsay walking northbound near a collision shop at 24680 Telegraph Road at 10:54 p.m. May 30, where he damaged a mailbox and threw it into the street.

At 11:18 p.m., video surveillance shows the suspect in the area of a restaurant located at 25225 Telegraph Road. The footage shows him attempting to steal a bicycle. The owner of the bicycle confronted Lindsay as he attempted to flee on the bike. The owner grabbed the bike to prevent the suspect from riding off and was successful at retrieving his bicycle. As the bike owner attempted to ride away from the suspect, Lindsay ran after him and punched him in the face. Lindsay then headed over to a Tim Hortons, where he proceeded to throw concrete through the window.

Jill Elmore expressed that she is grateful that she had the opportunity to say goodbye to her father.

She said, “When I left the hospital, I saw two white doves going by, and I knew he was with my mom, and my daughter saw a rainbow, and she took a picture of that. So God always gives us a message, like, ‘We’re OK.’”