This week, HGTV and DIY Network star Nicole Curtis was the victim of a robbery in downtown Detroit. That story got blown a bit out of proportion, though, thanks to what Curtis is calling a series of misunderstandings between her account, the police report, and the media’s coverage.
If you saw any of the news accounts of the event, you read about how Nicole Curtis was almost carjacked. In Curtis’ original Facebook post about the robbery, she mentioned that she was the victim of an “attempted carjacking.” At the time, Curtis–understandably–went on to say that the incident “made me question every single thing I have going on in my life.”
Though Nicole Curtis has since deleted the original Facebook post (in an attempt at stemming the rising tide of confusion), here’s most of what she posted. Hat tip to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
BEFORE READING THIS — WE ARE SAFE AND THAT’S WHAT MATTERS…I was the ‘victim’ of an attempted carjacking and it made me question every single thing I have going on in my life. I kept it together through the police report and about halfway home … I lost it….Here I am the self-appointed ‘come live in the city — there’s no such thing as bad neighborhoods just bad neighbors’ and I got … robbed….They got my old house book and my laptop, but I had my keys in my satchel not in a purse — not accessible. Had I thrown a ‘purse’ in; had I started my car to get the AC going while loading everyone and everything up — might be a totally different horrible outcome…I’m coming to meet [the criminal. First, I seek to understand what makes you think this was a good idea. ’Cause the mom in me wonders was it the only choice you thought you had? Second, I’m going to pray for you that your life takes you different directions.
Confusion arose after Curtis shared this Facebook update, though, since major news outlets picked up the story and called it a carjacking–only to be contradicted by Detroit police, who said that the incident was larceny, and, therefore, that Nicole Curtis was robbed. (It’s probably also worth pointing out that Curtis never claimed her car was stolen, or almost stolen, in the original post.) “Attempted carjacking,” in context, looks like more a case of implication than anything else: since the thief hasn’t been caught, no one can say whether he intended to steal the car, and “merely” got away with one of Curtis’ bags. The broader point is that Curtis was robbed, and that it shook her.
So, after about 24 hours of confusion and miscommunication, Curtis returned to Facebook to clarify her original point:
CORRECTION TO ALMOST EVERY NEWS STORY OUT THERE:
I was with my family this week. A black SUV was parked running in front of our vehicle when we approached our car. As we were loading into the car, one of the passengers jumped out of the black suv, jumped INTO my driver’s seat -went for keys (they were with me outside passenger side) they then grabbed my large work bag NOT purse from where they were sitting in my car. It contained my laptop and several other items. Jumped into the black SUV and drove off.
I called 911 -I then walked a block to Where police were.
It’s unfortunate that the news decided to run their own version. It kind of reminds of that game telephone we played in Junior High
Be safe -be aware. And thank you for all the emails, texts, phone calls of concern.
We wish Nicole (and everyone in Detroit [and everyone everywhere!]) a safe, happy, crime-free weekend.
(Photo credits: Nicole Curtis via Instagram, Twitter)
