HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – A man accused of threatening to shoot store employees who caught him trying to steal Hot Pockets from a Michigan store was eating Hot Pockets when police went to arrest him, according to court records.
On January 4, 2025, around 10 a.m., Daniel Hudson entered a Dollar General in Highland Park and began pocketing Hot Pockets.
What employees told the police
When an employee confronted him, Hudson took Hot Pockets out of his pocket, grabbed a container of chicken wings and began yelling at employees. While doing this, he allegedly displayed his gun which was in his coat pocket and threatened an employee that he would “blow his head off”.
The manager told Hudson to leave and called the police. Both employees told authorities that Hudson was a regular customer at Dollar General and knew where he worked.
Officers went to Hudson’s workplace, where they found him in the break room eating Hot Pockets. He was then taken into custody; officers found a 9 mm handgun in his backpack during the arrest.
Authorities learned that while there is no record of the gun being reported stolen, it was registered to another person from Detroit. Police said Hudson did not have a valid CPL to carry a gun.
What Hudson told the police
Authorities interviewed Hudson on January 6, 2025 regarding his arrest. He said he went to the Dollar General while on his lunch break. He told police he did not intend to steal the Hot Pockets, but he did not see a clerk, which led him to put the Hot Pockets in his pocket.
When confronted by an employee, he said he put the Hot Pockets back on the counter, pulled out his gun and put it back in his coat pocket. He told police he never pointed the gun at anyone.
When Hudson left Dollar General, he told us to go to a supermarket next to his workplace to pick up two Hot Pockets before returning to work.
When authorities asked Hudson about the statements he made to the employees, he said he told the workers, “Maybe I should blow on y’all– (sic),” when he was told he was no longer allowed to make a purchase. When asked to clarify this statement, he said it was “basically a threat.”
Hudson explained to police the gun he had originally belonged to a woman he used to talk to, and she gave it to him in September 2024. He said he would return it to her but never did. He said she could tell the police he stole it from her.
He also told police he fired the weapon once behind a liquor store near him but could not remember the date. While saying this, he reportedly mentioned that he didn’t want to walk around with it knowing he’s a felon, and then talked about his 2017 conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.
Hudson also allegedly admitted to previously lying to a detective and saying the firearm he had was a BB gun.
He is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
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