By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Douglas police might as soon not live Groundhog’s Day month over. Chief Steve Kent told city council Monday the department in 28 days handled 157 total cases, all but five, backing up neighbor units, in city limits.
Noteworthy incidents, Kent said, included:
• Saturday Feb. 4: Officer Tony Brown pulled over vehicle speeding on Blue Star Highway at 11:33 p.m. and found two minors had been drinking in it. Both were cited for Minor in Possession of Intoxicants and released due to their ages.
• Sunday, Feb. 5: As reported here 11 days later, Brown saw a car with a motor vehicle code violation southbound on Blue Star near Main Street at 10:27 p.m., noting also the passenger was ducking to conceal her identity.
He pulled over their car, stolen in Traverse City, near Enterprise Drive, left his cruiser and the pair fled high speed southbound.
The hot car ran the M-89 stop, its tires left the pavement, driver, a Muskegon man, 27, lost control on landing, plunged into the west side ditch and hit a private driveway, which catapulted it to rest on the next Ganges driveway south. Brown caught up and started to render the couple aid until more help came.
The driver was taken by ambulance to Holland Hospital, then transferred to Spectrum Butterworth in Grand Rapids, from which he’s since been released.
The passenger, a Traverse City woman, 34, was flown by West Michigan Air Care to Kalamazoo’s Bronson Hospital, from which she recently was transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
The driver has been charged with third-degree Fleeing and Eluding a Police Officer, Possession of Methamphetamines, Receiving and Concealing a Stolen Vehicle, and Carrying a Concealed Weapon. He has a valid warrant for probation violation from this incident, plus an additional felony charge of Operating Under the Influence of Drugs Causing Injury is being sought.
• On Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, officer Mark Giles was called at 2:25 p.m. to check the welfare of a male subject threatening suicide in the 00 block of Fremont Street. After talking, the subject refused assistance and was determined not a threat to himself.
• Thursday, Feb. 16, Kent was sent to a Priority 1 Medical with CPR Being Instructed by phone in the 100 block of St. Peters Drive. On arrival the patient was deemed dead and CPR not started. He and the medical examiner determined causes were natural.
• Officer Dyer was called Monday, Feb. 20, at 10:41 p.m. to help locate a vehicle fleeing an Allegan County Sheriff’s unit northbound on I-196. It had turned out its lights near Douglas Exit 36.
Dyer spotted it northbound on Blue Star near Wiley Road. When he tried to stop it, it fled north on Blue Star to Saugatuck Exit 41, spun a U-turn south and fled back to Exit 36. Hello spike strips. They blew out all four of suspect’s tires and two of Dyer’s cruiser. The sheriff’s office jailed the former and Douglas Police seek restitution to replace their gear.
• Sunday, Feb. 26, Dyer was sent to help with a Priority 1 Medical in the 400 block of Harbor Lake Drive for a possibly deceased subject. He and the medical examiner determined causes were natural.
The department also handled familiar-and-not complaints including assault investigations, a weapons shot/fired and noise complaints, malicious property destruction calls, medical emergencies; suspicious person, vehicle and/or situation complaints; threat and harassment complaints, trees down, animal complaints and more.
Monday, November 25, 2024
