In the summer of 1975, a fatal encounter in a Detroit parking lot cut short the life of 18-year-old Obie Wynn. On the evening of July 28th, Wynn, an African American male, was in the parking lot of Bolton's Bar on Livernois Avenue. The bar's owner, Andrew Chinarian, a white man, confronted Wynn and two other youths, believing they were tampering with his car. Chinarian fired a. 25-caliber pistol, striking Wynn in the back of the head.
Obie Wynn was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries nine hours later. At the time of his death, Wynn was a young father to a two-year-old daughter.
Chinarian claimed that he saw something shiny in Wynn's hand and believed it to be a weapon, stating he only intended to fire a warning shot and was attempting to make a citizen's arrest. Accounts from others in the neighborhood painted a different picture, describing Chinarian as a hostile and racist presence who actively tried to keep Black patrons out of his establishment. Following the shooting, Chinarian was taken into custody for questioning but was quickly released.
The release of Andrew Chinarian ignited a firestorm of protest in the predominantly Black neighborhood. Crowds gathered outside Bolton's Bar, and the demonstration soon escalated into unrest. Rocks were thrown, stores were looted, and fires were set. The outrage intensified when it was learned that Chinarian had been charged with second-degree murder but was freed on a scant $500 bond. In response to the growing public fury, a judge later raised the bond to $25,000. The unrest continued for three days, during which another man, Marian Pyszko, was tragically killed in the chaos. In the subsequent legal proceedings, Chinarian was ultimately acquitted of the charges against him in connection with Obie Wynn's death. The incident and its aftermath left a lasting scar on the community and became a significant chapter in Detroit's history of racial tensions.
