A suspected armed robber was killed by gunshots at the
conclusion of a car chase, troopers from the Michigan State Police, Wayland post.
The driver of the car, Baelyn Kruger, 18, of Woodland, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He and his passenger, a 24-year-old Grand Rapids man, robbed a Clark gas station at gunpoint in downtown Martin.
Police said Kruger and the other man both were armed with guns when they told the cashier get on the floor and took more than $1,000 from the cash register and cigarettes.
A witness who dialed 911 followed Kruger’s red Cavalier after it went northbound on U.S. 131. Kruger exited 131 at the next exit in Shelbyville and then drove north on 10th Street, where he was pursued by an Allegan County sheriff’s deputy who passed the red Cavalier as he was southbound on 10th Street. The deputy attempted to pull over the Cavalier at the intersection of 10th Street and 129th Avenue in Bradley.
Kruger continued north on 10th Street and left the road a few times before crashing into a barn. Police said he told his accomplice he wasn’t going back to jail and shot himself while the car was traveling down the road. The passenger then took control of the car of the car before it crashed.
Police recovered the stolen money and .380 semiautomatic handgun that Kruger used to shoot himself. Also recovered was an Airsoft pistol, believed to be used by the passenger during the robbery.
Charges of armed robbery and felony firearm will be sought against Kruger’s passenger.
