Courtesy photo
By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
An attempted traffic stop of a “suspicious vehicle” by Clare Police turned into a police chase that led from Clare into Rosebush at 3:43 pm Monday and ended with the apprehension of a 24 or 25-year-old man wielding a handgun and firing a shot at an officer and his vehicle.
Isabella County Sheriff’s deputies were called to assist Clare Police, as well as the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police, Michigan State Police, the Department of Natural Resources, the Isabella County Emergency Services Team, the Clare County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Central Michigan University Police.
According to a release from Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main, the driver of the vehicle stopped as it approached the 4000 block of North Mission Road and “fired a round at the police officer and patrol unit.”
The man next fled on foot in an easterly direction and went into Mears, a nearby business that had employees inside. The suspect ran through the building and left it, the Sheriff said. A perimeter was placed around the area and for the next few hours police searched for the suspect with the help of drones, emergency services teams, a Michigan State Police helicopter and investigators.
Meanwhile the Rosebush community was told to “shelter in place.” The community was on lockdown for several hours while police searched the area.
The suspect, who hadn’t been arraigned yet when this article was written, was reportedly hiding under a residence not far away. He emerged from under a crawl space. A K9 officer was deployed and bit the suspect, Sheriff Main said, and the man was taken into custody without any additional injury. He was “checked out medically at a local emergency room and then transported to the Isabella County Jail,” where he remains lodged pending arraignment. He was charged with first-degree fleeing a police officer, assault with intent to murder, receiving and concealing stolen firearms, resisting and obstructing conservation officers and with possession of methamphetamine/ecstasy.