Joan Namachemo was awakened from her sleep this week by police knocking on her door. Namachemo’shusband, police told her Tuesday night, had been found lying in the street just one block from the couple’s Des Moines home.
Michael Wasike, 36 from Kenya, had been on his way home from work Tuesday evening when someone apparently attacked him near 50th Street and Twana Drive, stole his vehicle and fled, police said.
Wasike was found around 8:20 p.m. by a passerby, according to police. Wasike incurred head trauma during the attack and was in a medically-induced coma Wednesday, Namachemo said. Waiske is expected to recover, but as of Wednesday evening, doctors were still trying to stabilize his condition, and he had yet to wake up from the coma, she said.
“My heart just stopped,” Namachemo said of when police arrived at her door. “I didn’t even know what to do.”
Police identified Wasike using a credit card in his pocket. His vehicle and cellphone were missing.
Police don’t know how Wasike’s attacker was able to get him out of the vehicle, or how long Wasike had been lying in the street before he was found.
Police said there’s little they can do until Wasike is out of the coma.
A description of Wasike’s stolen vehicle — a gray 2005 Nissan Altima — was provided to local law enforcement. Authorities also entered the information into a nationwide database of stolen and wanted vehicles in case it is pulled over or recovered in another jurisdiction.
Wasike’s cellphone appears to be turned off, and the vehicle doesn’t have a traceable GPS system, police said.
“There was nothing there,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax said. “Just the victim laying in the street and the car missing.”
Carjackings are relatively rare in Des Moines, and one this brutal is even more unusual.
“We usually don’t see this level of injuries with robberies,” Halifax said.
However, thefts of vehicles have been on the increase in Des Moines. In 2012, 891 vehicles were reported stolen, up from 750 that were stolen in 2009. Police recovered 75 percent of the stolen vehicles in 2012.
Neither Wasike nor Namachemo have criminal records, online court records show, and neither had previous run-ins with law enforcement, Halifax said.
Wasike is a laid-back, caring person, Namachemo said.
“I can’t understand this,” she said. “He’s a very nice guy. Anyone who knows him, knows he’s a good person.”
Source: Des Moines Register
