JEROME BETTIS SUSPECT IN RASH OF DETROIT ROBBERIES, GIANT KEY TO CITY USED TO ACCESS HOMES, BANK VAULTSDETROIT - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick issued a plea to Pittsburgh Steeler running back Jerome Bettis to turn himself into police tonight after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with a series of robberies in the greater Detroit Metro area. Over a seven day period ending last Sunday, numerous civic and financial institutions, including the Detroit Museum of Art, First National Bank and the Henry Ford Center for Automobiles and Anti-Semitic Studies have suffered incalculable losses in a string of after-hours break-ins. No signs of forced entry were apparent to investigators, leading police to conclude that the perpetrator must have access to each of the buildings.
Mayor Kilpatrick, who presented Bettis with a key to the city during a ceremony last week at City Hall, was clearly upset. "When I gave this key to 'the Bus,' I asked him to be careful about who he gave it to. I want to remind all of you that Jerome has not been charged with a crime. I'm sure there is a very simple explanation for how so much money, art, jewels, cars and hate literature could have been stolen in such a short period of time and with such relative ease, and I'm certain that explanation does not implicate our hometown hero and his recently obtained key that opens every lock from Ann Arbor to Grosse Pointe."
