By Kaitlyn Campbell
A Clare man has been charged after threatening an Amish family and a work crew in two separate cases.
In the first case, 47-year-old Charles Rogers Sensing allegedly threatened an Amish family with a knife as they drove by in their buggy.
According to Michigan State Police, the family recently moved to Manistee County and attended a church service on Aug. 7, where fellow parishioners told them of a shorter rout home on Healy Lake Road after the service.
The family was not familiar with the route. As they came down the road on their buggy, Sensing allegedly came toward the road waving a large knife at them.
The Amish family stopped their buggy to see what Sensing wanted, and Sensing allegedly told the family that they would face “big problems” if they ever traveled on that road with a buggy again, Michigan State Police said.
The victims said that other Amish in the area told him that they have also received threats from Sensing, who regularly visits Manistee County.
In an interview with a Michigan State Police trooper after the incident occurred, Sensing allegedly stated that he hates Amish people and made remarks about what he would do if they came near him.
In the second case, Sensing is accused of threatening a work crew on Lahti Road in Maple Grove Township in Manistee County on Nov. 20.
The supervisor of the crew told Michigan State Police that Sensing approached them in their work site with a rifle slung over his shoulder and accused someone of defecating on his property next to where they were working. He then allegedly threatened to shoot all of them and burn their rig down.
Reports of both incidents were turned over to the Manistee County Prosecutor’s Office, and they authorized an arrest warrant on Dec. 28. Sensing was arraigned on Jan. 17 in the Manistee County District Court.
Sensing is charged with ethnic intimidation and assault with a dangerous weapon in the Amish case, as well as assault, brandishing a firearm in public and disturbing workers for the work crew case.
Sensing remains in custody at the Manistee County Jail on $10,000 bond for the Amish case and $2,500 bond for the work crew case.