Injured deputy improving; assailant’s bond increased

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was reported Friday afternoon that the deputy has been released from the hospital.

The deputy who was assaulted Sept. 11 while trying arrest Christopher Gerou, 35, of Dorr, is improving at a hospital and the accused now is facing a much higher bond for release.

Gerou was charged with five felonies and Allegan County Prosecutor Myrene Koch was able to have his bond increased to $50,000 bond for the original sum of $10,000, set by Attorney Magistrate Daniel Norbeck.

Gerou has a record as a habitual offender, the prosecutor said. “We do believe that Mr. Gerou, based on all of this, would be a significant flight risk and there is nothing that would be tying him to the Allegan County area,” Koch said.

Deputy Dillon Kibby was summoned to a neighborhood in the area of 142nd Avenue and 16th Street in Dorr Township on a report that someone was driving back and forth at a high rate of speed without headlights. Sheriff Frank Baker said the deputy found Gerou outside his home and called for backup after noting Gerou was agitated and likely drunk.

A Michigan State Police trooper soon arrived and witnessed the assault.

The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy suffered a fractured skull and a brain bleed. The deputy told Gerou he was under arrest but Gerou started walking away, the document says.

“(The deputy) attempted to grab Gerou’s wrist at which point Gerou abruptly turned around and struck (the deputy) with his right arm in the head/neck, rendering him unconscious as he fell to the driveway,” the document says.

When the MSP trooper tried to grab Gerou’s wrist, he again pulled off and used an expletive, the court document says. The trooper pulled his Taser and Gerou gave it up.

Gerou was discharged from the Michigan Department of Corrections in August 2022 after serving about eight years in prison for assault by strangulation, online records show. MDOC records show he previously served time for assaulting a police officer in 2007 and for home invasion and marijuana convictions in 2010. Court records show he has prior arrests for assaulting a prison employee and domestic violence.