A 31-year-old Wayland man is lodged in the Allegan County jail this morning after a wild series of events that included assault with a vehicle and several chases.
The suspect has been charged with feloniously assaulting a police officer with a motor vehicle, felony fleeing and eluding, felony malicious destruction of police property, attempted carjacking, felony malicious destruction of property of Black River Waterproofing, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Other possible charges are pending.
Wayland City Police Chief Mark Garnsey said his department responded to a call just before 6 a.m. about suspicious behavior in the 200 Block of Clark Street in Wayland. The officer was told a pickup truck was parked behind a swimming pool in a backyard area. The residents were present when the officer arrived.
The pickup was found to have crashed into the swimming pool and the truck was abandoned and idling.
“The officer heard noise coming from a nearby building and proceeded to investigate,” Garnsey said in a statement. “The officer followed numerous items of property scattered about the yard area that led into the front large doors of this building. Upon approaching the officer saw a person in a mid-sized red Oldsmobile sedan. The officer ordered the man to stop, and the driver accelerated at the officer, causing the officer to have to move quickly to avoid being struck. The officer repeated commands from just a few feet away as the driver left the scene.”
The chief said the driver left pulling out onto Clark Street, but suddenly stopped, put the sedan in reverse and backed about 75 feet across a lawn and crashed into the Wayland Police cruiser, which is a full-sized Chevrolet Tahoe, which had its headlights and taillights activated at the time it was struck.
“The driver’s sedan was now disabled because of significant damage, and the driver then fled on foot,” Garnsey added. “The officer yelled for the suspect driver to stop. As the driver fled, he had an unknown object in his hands, and headed for a wooded area.”
Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies were summoned for a canine track, and Michigan State Police and the Gun Lake Tribal Police assisted at the scene as well. A short while later a state police unit located the driver, who was now riding a bicycle. The suspect attempted to evade the MSP Trooper, but was apprehended.
Garnsey said, “Subsequent investigation revealed that the fleeing suspect had attempted to car jack a vehicle from a customer who was at the Wayland Laundry on West Superior Street. The suspect had some type of lengthy garden tool in his hands, according to the victim. The suspect pounded the tool on the ground and told the victim he was taking the victim’s car because the police were after him.”
The suspect was not able to steal the car, but appropriated the bicycle that he was eventually caught fleeing the scene with.
Victims who own the building, Black River Waterproofing, 309 ½ Clark St. ,report preliminarily that they have $12,400 in damaged tools consisting of a welder, a transit laser, and other tools.
The chief said the Wayland police officer is a 16-year veteran of the department, and was not injured during this incident.
