A suspected shoplifter led Wyandotte police on a high-speed chase that ended in Detroit with the driver intentionally ramming a patrol vehicle, then fleeing into an abandoned house.
According to police, the incident began at 12:12 AM, February 1, after officers were sent to CVS/pharmacy, 2025 Fort St., on a retail fraud in progress. When the first officer arrived, the suspect fled in a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Police say the driver reached speeds exceeding 90 mph in an effort to escape arrest.
Officers pursued the vehicle into the city of Detroit, where the Jeep crashed, coming to rest on a front lawn. The officers attempted to apprehend the driver, however he continued to rev the engine in an attempt to break free from a snowbank.
“Finally, the suspect’s vehicle broke free, allowing him to collide with our patrol vehicle,” said Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton. “The suspect intentionally crashed into our patrol vehicle three separate times before getting back on the roadway. A short time later, the suspect crashed and ran on foot.”
At approximately 9 AM, Wyandotte police received information that the suspect was hiding in an abandoned house in the area of Edsel and Omaha. Wyandotte officers, assisted by the Detroit Police Department, searched the house, but didn’t find him.
However, police spotted the suspect in the neighborhood. He ran into another abandoned house, this one located on Liddesdale. Hamilton said the man stated he was armed with a firearm and refused to surrender, but after a standoff he was arrested without a struggle. Police did not recover a firearm.
“We have reason to believe this suspect is responsible for numerous thefts throughout the Downriver area in recent weeks,” Hamilton said. “Charges in this matter are pending…” News-Herald