Cops finally pry pig out of Detroit basement

It took hours of pushing and persuading, but police finally managed to evict a hog from a west-side basement.

"It was the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life on the police force," said Capt. Harold Rochon, who added he had been an officer for 20 years.

Neighbors called police about the animal, which was in a home in the 10400 block of Orangelawn, police said.

Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt said the man who owned the home was found dead in another home of his across the street. He was identified as Gary Roquemore, said Ryan Bridges, a spokesman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, and he died of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Police brought a tow truck and strapped the pig in a harness, but the pig was uncomfortable and didn't want to come out. They tried building multiple ramps made out of refuse from Roquemore's yard, and tried coaxing it with snacks from neighbors — but those snacks sadly had no effect, Rochon said.

Finally, four hours after their efforts began, they built a ramp that worked, and pushed the hog out from behind.

The hog was taken to Devoted Barn, a farm near Saline. If there are no health issues, the hog will be allowed to live.

Dolunt said a farmer was being brought in to help remove the hog from the basement, which had only a ladder — no stairs — leading into it.

Police and neighbors said Roquemore was the man who lived in the house where the hog was found. Neighbors described Roquemore as a hoarder who owned several properties on the street.

They said he was an introverted man who owned a phenomenal amount of things: he had a few properties on the block near where he was found dead Monday, at least six cars in his yard that appeared to be out of use, and even a farm well outside the city where he kept a range of animals and grew fruits and vegetables.

"He was a good person," said Danny Wade, 18, who used to help out Roquemore on the weekends in exchange for a few dollars and snacks like donuts.

"He never wanted to see nothing go to waste."

Roquemore also told neighbors that he worked in the government, though he didn't elaborate, and said that he was a pastor, although Wade saw him in regular clothes on Sundays and began to suspect that wasn't true.

"It's strange," said Diane Blue, who often saw Roquemore around. "I wouldn't expect [him] to have a pig in the basement. I can understand hoarding, because it happens. But a pig in your basement--that's strange."

Contact Gina Damron: 313-223-4526 or gdamron@freepress.com