Trial ordered for Flint teen in carjacking

Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Roseville -- A Flint teen was ordered to stand trial Monday on charges prosecutors describe as the final act in a three-day crime spree that included armed robbery, carjackings and murder.

Roseville District Judge Catherine B. Steenland ruled Ihab Maslamani, 17, will proceed to trial on charges of carjacking, felony firearm and possession of a stolen weapon in a case involving an Aug. 11 carjacking at a Wal-Mart in Roseville.

The carjacking victim, David Hassroune, and several Roseville police officers took the stand to testify Monday during a two-hour preliminary examination.

Hassroune testified he was seated in his 2002 Honda Civic, preparing to put Freon into his air conditioner, when a man walked up and held a gun to his chest.

"He said, 'Get out of the car and start running,' " Hassroune said, adding he did not see the man's face, just a gray jacket, wig and tattoos on the suspect's hands and forearms. "My heart dropped three feet to my stomach ... I got out of the car."

Hassroune said he ran back toward the shopping center, yelling, "He's got a gun," then used someone's cell phone to call 911.

Police recovered a gun and its loaded magazine nearby. The weapon, which is being tested at the Michigan State Police crime lab, had been reported stolen out of Detroit a couple of days earlier.

"(Maslamani) admitted to me he asked a man in the lot if he knew how to get to Flint and offered him $50 to take him. (The man) said no," Roseville Police Sgt. Keith Waller said. "Then, he jokingly made the statement: 'Well then, give me your car.' "

Defense attorneys Monday noted the victim's inability to identify the teen, and that Maslamani admitting to asking a man for a ride doesn't prove it was Hassroune. But Steenland ruled there was probable cause to order the teen to trial.In October, the teen was ordered to trial on charges stemming from an Aug. 10 robbery at Flagstar Bank at Crocker and 16 Mile.

Prosecutors say the teen committed the Harrison Township bank robbery one day before he was nabbed during the botched carjacking attempt in Roseville.

Maslamani is also accused in the Aug. 9 abduction and death of 21-year-old Matthew Landry of Chesterfield Township. He is expected to undergo a preliminary exam Thursday, along with Robert Taylor, 16, of Detroit, on charges of felony homicide, carjacking, kidnapping and larceny offenses in connection with Landry's disappearance and death.