The 13-Year-Old Who Beat His Kidnapper With a Skateboard

Bloomfield Township — The wildest kidnapping case in Michigan history had a little bit of everything: A wealthy, well-known target; a pair of colorful kidnappers who might have been the two dumbest criminals who ever lived; and a 13-year-old victim with an epic haircut who was the most badass teenager this state has ever seen.

Best of all, it had a happy ending. The victim was released unharmed, the bad guys were caught and sentenced, and almost all the ransom money was returned.

Known as the Stempel Kidnapping, this took place in November 1975, just a few months after Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, and ironically enough, it took place in the exact same place—Bloomfield Township.

While movies have been made about the Jimmy Hoffa case, almost nobody knows the story of the Stempel kidnapping. Which is too bad, because it’s a story of courage and bravery, and it has a 13-year-old hero we can all look up to. Hollywood needs to tell this tale, but for now, Michigan Enjoyer is happy to do it.

Jimmy Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975, after a meeting at the Machus Red Fox restaurant on Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township. He’s never been found. Timothy Stempel was abducted three-and-a-half months later less than a mile away, while skateboarding in his upscale neighborhood near 14 Mile and Telegraph. He was released unharmed after three days.

Timothy was 13 years old, had an absolutely epic 1970s Dutch Boy haircut, and he was the son of Robert Stempel, the chief of engineering for Chevrolet. Bob Stempel was a genius engineer, the man who led the development of the catalytic converter and the front-wheel-drive powertrain.

He later made it all the way to the top, serving as the Chairman and CEO of General Motors. While Bob Stempel is considered one of the most brilliant auto engineers who ever lived, he was a bit of a flop as CEO. It was a terrible time to be running an auto company, and his tenure lasted just two years, from 1990 to 1992.

In 1975, though, he was just a wealthy auto exec living in Bloomfield Township with his wife Patricia and their three kids—Barbara, Timothy, and Peter. Tim loved to skateboard, so that’s what he was doing on the afternoon of Nov. 10, 1975.

Now let’s meet the two morons who kidnapped him. Darryl Wilson was 22 and Clinton Williams was 19, and they both lived in Ann Arbor. They looked like a couple extras from the movie “Shaft,” and for whatever reason, they got it into their heads that the best way to make some easy money was to drive through a rich neighborhood and kidnap the first rich kid they saw.

So that’s what they did. They knew that Bloomfield Township in Oakland County had a lot of rich neighborhoods, so that’s where they headed. They drove down a few streets, and after passing up a couple other potential victims (one was too young; one was too close to his house), they settled on Timothy Stempel.

They had no idea who he was, or that his dad was the head of engineering at Chevrolet. They just figured that if he was riding his skateboard in that neighborhood, he must be a rich kid with a rich dad who would be willing to pay a nice ransom to get his son back.

Darryl Wilson and Clinton Williams pulled over their car and to get his attention, they asked Timothy if he knew where “Dr. Lee” lived. When Tim said he didn’t know any Dr. Lee, Clinton Williams got out of the car, pulled a gun, and told Tim to get in the car.

Tim said, “No way! I’m not getting in that car!” Then he took his skateboard and bashed the gun out of Clinton Williams’s hands.

Robert Stempel relished telling the story to reporters once his son was safely returned. “He pushed the weapon away, I might add. He told me he was sorry he didn’t beat the man, but he had to give up.”

Stop for a second and think about the courage it took for a 13-year-old boy to do that. A man jumps out of a car and pulls a gun on him, and instead of doing what the bad guy says, he takes his skateboard and starts to beat the hell out of him. I’ll say it again: Tim Stempel was a badass.

At this point, Clinton Williams picked the gun back up while he was wrestling with Tim, and Darryl Wilson hopped out of the car and started yelling, “Shoot the mother—! Shoot the mother—!” Instead, they tackled Tim, overpowered him, and got him in the trunk of the car.

That’s where Tim would stay for the next 53 hours while the kidnapping saga played out. But as you’ll find out, he kept busy while he was locked in there.

The kidnappers were able to find out that the kid they had in their car trunk was Robert Stempel’s kid, so they called Robert Stempel and demanded a $150,000 ransom. Stempel said he’d pay it, but he needed a little time to get the money together. They also told Stempel not to tell the cops, or there would be trouble.

The cops had already been called, of course, and almost immediately, there were about 100 officers assigned to it: a mix of local cops, state cops, and FBI agents. Because everyone was still on edge after Hoffa’s disappearance and Bob Stempel’s status as a local celebrity, they threw everything at this case. One of the FBI agents on the case was Greg Stejskal, who had recently been assigned to the Detroit bureau.

“It was designated a ‘special’ by FBI headquarters: all hands on deck,” Stejskal wrote some years later. “But it had to be done in such a way as to not alert the kidnappers. The paramount goal in any kidnapping investigation, obviously, is the safe return of the victim.”

As Bob Stempel was gathering the ransom money and waiting for instructions about what to do next, some local reporter found out about the case. Then a few more reporters caught wind of it. They were all set to run their stories, but the Stempel family and the FBI made a plea to all of them: Please don’t run anything until we get Timothy back.

Remarkably, the entire Detroit press corps agreed, as did the national outlets who were working on the story. All agreed to hold off on saying anything until Timothy was home safe.

“If you do that,” the FBI said, “we’ll tell you everything once we have him back.”

The media agreed to hold the story, and a couple days later, when the ransom was paid and Tim was released, the Stempels and the FBI kept their part of the bargain. Robert and Patricia Stempel held a press conference with Tim at their side and thanked the media profusely for keeping a lid on the story.

Now let’s talk about all the stupid things that Clinton Williams and Darryl Wilson did, and why they rank right up there with Harry and Marv from “Home Alone” in the annals of bumbling criminal masterminds.

The first dumb thing they did was leave a hacksaw blade in the trunk with Tim, which he used to carve a message in the trunk lid: “Tim Stempel was here. Nov. 12, 1975.” Tim figured that would come in handy if the authorities ever found the car and needed proof that he had been kept there. (That’s exactly what ended up happening, by the way.)

The other brilliant thing Tim did during his 53 hours in the trunk was that he let all the air out of the spare tire. He had heard one of the wheels rattling while they drove around, and he figured if the car got a flat and they needed to use the spare, it would aid in his getaway if they were stuck somewhere.

Tim Stempel wasn’t just brave; he was also brilliant. He was three steps ahead of his kidnappers at every turn.

Clinton Williams and Darryl Wilson, meanwhile, were not done doing stupid things. The ransom money, of course, had all been delivered in marked bills, so the first thing they did when they got their hands on the $150,000 was to give some of it to their friends and tell them to go wild.

The Detroit Free Press reported on it: “Police got their big break in cracking the Stempel case when the alleged kidnappers gave away $2,700 to two friends, launching a spending spree at stores in Detroit and Inkster.”

Among other things, they went to Kay’s Apparel in Inkster and bought fur coats. The friend who spent the marked money gladly fingered Darryl Wilson as the man who gave it to him. The FBI went to Wilson’s home in Ann Arbor and arrested him. They also found about $137,000 of the ransom money. They picked up Clinton Williams a short time later.

So to recap. Darryl Wilson and Clinton Williams picked up a kid who tried to beat their asses with a skateboard. Then they locked him in a trunk that had a hacksaw blade in it. Then they got the ransom money in marked bills and told their friends to go on a spending spree with it. Yep, a real pair of criminal geniuses.

They first admitted they did it but then changed their minds and said, “Nuh-uh, we’re innocent. We want to go to trial.”

OK, then. This should take all of two seconds. The trial was moved up north, to Leelanau County, to avoid any prejudicial publicity in the Detroit area. It was prosecuted by L. Brooks Patterson, the legendary Oakland County prosecutor.

Patterson called just one witness on the first day of the trial: Timothy Stempel. Wearing blue jeans and a checkered shirt, he stared down his kidnappers in court and told the jury everything. How he bashed them with a skateboard when they tried to take him. How he carved his name in the truck with a hacksaw blade. How the only thing he had to eat in the trunk was a baloney sandwich with mustard.

Tim didn’t waver or fold when the defense started to question him. He answered every question calmly and confidently and stared his kidnappers down the entire time. A pure Michigan badass.

The next day, their attorneys convinced the kidnappers that Tim Stempel’s cold-as-ice testimony had sealed their fates. Williams and Wilson quickly changed their pleas to “guilty,” and the judge gave them 30 years without blinking. We have no idea whatever became of them, and frankly, nobody cares.

Likewise, Timothy Stempel faded into anonymity, and we have no idea where he is now, either. After all he endured, he certainly earned a life of peace and quiet. Even when his dad died in 2011, he didn’t resurface publicly.

Tim is in his early 60s now, living somewhere in obscurity. Wherever he is, he should know that every person in Michigan who hears this story is no doubt giving him a tip of the cap.

Tim Stempel, wherever you are, you’re a pure Michigan badass. Props to you, my good man, and I hope you’re enjoying life.

I also hope you get a call from Hollywood or Netflix sometime soon. You deserve it.