Ford executive Franck Louis-Victor appeared in a Bloomfield Township courtroom for a hearing Thursday on two felony charges related to a July 8 domestic incident but the case was dismissed when the prosecution was unable to produce any witnesses.
Allison Krueger, an Oakland County assistant prosecutor, told 48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small that county officials were unable to locate Louis-Victor’s wife despite trying to reach her by phone, email, text and with police visits to the home. A subpoena compelling Soo Louis-Victor to appear could not be served, Krueger told the judge.
Franck Louis-Victor was arrested after voluntarily going to the Bloomfield Township Police station and providing his version of an incident with his wife that occurred on July 8. He was arraigned July 10 and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and arson, based on preparation to burn property worth between $1,000 and $20,000, according to court records.
The arson charge stems from Franck Louis-Victor allegedly trying to set fire to two Hermes handbags during a situation at his home, according to court records. The assault with a dangerous weapon charge relates to an incident Involving “a butane torch and/or a computer tablet, but without intending to commit the crime of murder,” court records say. The police report says Franck Louis-Victor took out a butane torch and arranged the purses on a workbench in the basement threatening to burn them. When his wife attempted to grab the purses, he waved the lit butane torch approximately 2 feet from her face, according to court records.
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“We do not have a complaining witness this morning,” Krueger told the judge Thursday. “I sent subpoenas to the officer in charge on July 19, 2023, and he from that date made attempts to contact the victim every single day by telephone, went to her residence, was unable to make physical contact with her, sent her an email copy of the subpoena on the 24th of this month. Road patrol officers also from the Bloomfield Township police department did go to the residence and attempt to make in-person contact with her to personally serve her. They had no success.”
In addition, Krueger told the judge that the friend who took Soo Louis-Victor to the hospital the night of the incident had not had contact with her, and she had not responded to texts or calls and believes she’s out of the state.
When the judge asked the prosecutor whether she could start the preliminary examination with another witness, Krueger said the police officer she planned to call was “not working” on Thursday and unavailable.
“The officer who I would potentially anticipate calling, he is out of the office today,” Krueger told the judge.
Small said, “OK. We are in a situation where today is the date and time scheduled for preliminary examination, which is within the 21 days of arraignment. And unfortunately the prosecution cannot move forward, doesn’t have a witness that they can even start the exam with, even though there were pretty significant efforts to get the victim here today.”
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Krueger asked the judge to maintain the option to re-file the case at a later date. Defense attorney Todd Flood of Detroit and Royal Oak declined to comment to the Detroit Free Press after the hearing. Franck Louis-Victor also declined to comment to the Free Press. Krueger left the courtroom immediately.
The wife of the defendant, who is identified as Soo Kyung Marie Kim in police records obtained by the Free Press, issued a statement through attorney Paul Stablein on July 12 that praised her husband as “loving” and she regretted the July 8 incident at their home went public.
The couple, based on statements each made to police in documents obtained by the Free Press through the Freedom of Information Act, argued over a series of sensitive topics on July 8 at their home.
Franck Louis-Victor, CEO of Ford Next LLC and vice president of new businesses at Ford Motor Co., joined Ford Motor Co. in 2021 from Renault. Ford put Louis-Victor on leave July 13. Ford spokesman T.R. Reid told the Free Press Thursday that Louis-Victor’s employment status has not changed.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.