Stolen car chase ends in crash

By Scott Sullivan
Editor
A car stolen near Traverse City saw its journey end Feb. 5 in a crash south of Douglas, landing both occupants in hospitals.
Neither name as of press time had been released.
Douglas police officer Tony Brown spotted a vehicle at 10:27 that night with multiple code violations and “suspicious activity” happening inside driving southbound on Blue Star Highway near Main Street, Chief Steve Kent reported.
Brown pulled over the vehicle near Enterprise Drive, stepped outside the cruiser and the car’s driver, a Muskegon man, 25, sped off southbound.
The stolen vehicle ran the intersection of Blue Star and M-89 and lost control, leaving the roadway into the westside ditch and striking a private driveway, which sent it airborne. It came to rest on the next Ganges Township driveway south, where Brown caught up, stopped and started giving aid.
The driver was taken by ambulance to the Holland Hospital emergency room, then transported to Spectrum Butterworth in Grand Rapids.
The passenger, a Traverse City woman, 34, was flown by West Michigan Air Care to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo for more care and treatment. They remain under hospital care, Kent said.
“Douglas police are continuing our investigation and will submit charging requests to the Allegan County Prosecutor’s office,” the chief added, “as well as determining possible probation violations and confirming arrest warrants from other agencies.
“Based on what we observed and found in the car, there may be more charges than fleeing and eluding,” Kent went on.
The crash scene is being investigated by Michigan State Police. Douglas police were assisted by county sheriff’s deputies, Ganges and Saugatuck Township fire departments, Life and AMR ambulance services and West Michigan Air Care at the scene.