By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
PAW PAW – The break-ins of three area dispensaries, and a vehicle pursuit with speeds reaching over 100 mph, led to the arrest, Thursday, July 7, near Paw Paw, of four Battle Creek men, who now face charges of breaking and entering, flee and elude, and resisting and obstructing police, according to a press release from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.
Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott said that the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Uniform Response Division responded to an alarm at White Flower Cannabis Co., 39530 Red Arrow Highway, Paw Paw. Deputies found that that business had been broken into. A short time later, another alarm call was activated at Golden Greens Provisioning Center, 270 Crandall Parkway, Lawrence. As sheriff’s deputies and officers responded to this location, another alarm was activated at Transcend Dispensary, 801 Prospect St., Hartford.
A suspect vehicle and description of the suspects was captured from surveillance footage. Several minutes after the third alarm, a Pokagon Tribal Police officer spotted the suspect vehicle near County Road 681 and Red Arrow Highway. The suspect vehicle led police on a vehicle pursuit spanning close to 10 miles with speeds over 100 mph. Spikes strips were deployed and the suspect vehicle was disabled. Abbott said the vehicle pursuit ended near mile marker 57 on East Interstate 94. All four suspects, ages 26, 20, 20, and 17, fled the vehicle on foot. Abbott said the first suspect was apprehended after a short foot pursuit. The second, third, and fourth suspects were located and arrested after an extensive, foot pursuit and K-9 track involving multiple agencies. The suspect during this incident continually refused command from officers until they were physically apprehended by law enforcement. K-9s from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police were utilized along with drones from the Pokagon Tribal Police and Great Lakes Drone Company.
Abbott said this incident spanned several townships, municipalities and involved officers and equipment from multiple agencies. The subsequent K-9 tracks, and foot pursuits covered terrain from open farm fields, swamps, wooded areas and the Paw Paw River. Abbott said this investigation is ongoing and may involve more cases of breaking and entering in Van Buren County and the surrounding areas.
Assisting agencies included, Van Buren County Narcotics Unit, Van Buren County Criminal Investigations, Michigan State Police, Pokagon Tribal Police, and Paw Paw, Hartford and Mattawan police departments.
More information on this incident will be released as the investigation moves forward, according to Abbott.