DETROIT (AP) — A 600-pound (272-kilogram) bronze statue of a Tuskegee airman has been found after it was stolen from a city park, Detroit police said Friday. The statue of Lt. Col.
Alexander Jefferson was reported missing Wednesday evening from Rouge Park on Detroit’s far west side, police said. It appeared to have been sawed off at the ankles. Investigators believe the statue was taken sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters Friday that officers canvassed the neighborhood and determined the time when the statue was stolen. Surveillance cameras on nearby businesses showed a large rental truck leaving the area. Officers then spoke to operators of the rental truck company and learned the truck has GPS, Duggan said.
“(Officers) found out the person who rented it was suspected of other robberies,” he said. “They ran him down in real time, caught him. He turned over the statue, confessed and we made two arrests.
” Details of the arrests were not immediately released Friday. Jefferson was a member of the famed Red Tails during World War II. The unit escorted bombers over Europe.
Jefferson was shot down and held as a prisoner of war. He returned home to Detroit following his release. Jefferson later taught in schools and served as a vice principal.
He also helped form the Tuskegee Airmen chapter in Detroit. The airmen were the nation’s first all-Black air fighter squadron . They trained and fought separately from white fighter.