4 teens charged in Tuskegee Airman's carjacking

5:43 PM, Mar 4, 2013   |    comments
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DETROIT -- Four teenagers have been charged in Detroit with carjacking an 88-year-old World War II veteran who's a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office says the 13- to 16-year-olds were to face preliminary hearings Monday at the Juvenile Detention Center.

Jesse Rutledge tells WXYZ-TV that he was leaving an east side barber shop Saturday afternoon when one of the teens placed a gun to his head and demanded the keys to his Jeep.

The youths were arrested Sunday. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of black combat pilots who trained in Alabama during World War II.

They helped pave the way for desegregation in the U.S. military. Rutledge says he was a gunner on B-25 bomber.

Associated Press