Ferndale

Fleeing driver caught day after high-speed chase

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Ferndale police have arrested 18-year-old Terrance Thomas, who fled from officers after a high-speed chase. Ferndale police have arrested 18-year-old Terrance Thomas, who fled from officers after a high-speed chase.

Police arrested one driver on the spot and another the following day after a couple of chases that led officers south of Eight Mile and into Detroit.

According to Detective Lt. Bill Wilson, the first chase began at 12:52 a.m. on Feb. 13, when a Ferndale police officer spotted a black Jeep Liberty that had been reported stolen out of Detroit the day before. The driver was traveling on westbound Eight Mile Road, then suddenly slowed down and pulled over by the curb just west of Laprairie Street.

However, when the officer approached the vehicle, the driver hit the gas, drove over the center median and fled eastbound on Eight Mile and southbound on Woodward Avenue. “He wasn’t being pulled over, (but) he fled when he saw police coming his way,” Wilson explained via email.

The officer soon caught up to the Jeep, Wilson said, and the ensuing pursuit involved high speeds and driving against oncoming traffic. It continued eastbound until the driver crashed into Banka’s Collision Shop at 6016 E. Seven Mile Road in Detroit.

Five young men then fled from the vehicle on foot, Wilson said. Two juveniles and a 17-year-old man were arrested, but the driver and another passenger were able to escape. All three subjects were later released after investigation revealed that none of them were the driver. Still, as Wilson noted, “It appears that the occupants (of the Jeep) were out looking to steal another vehicle when they were caught.”

Ferndale police were able to obtain an arrest warrant for the driver, 18-year-old Terrance Thomas. At about 10 a.m. on Feb. 14, officers arrested Thomas at his home on Helen Street in Detroit.

In an earlier incident, police were able to catch the fleeing driver immediately after the chase ended in a Detroit neighborhood. According to Wilson, at around 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, a Ferndale officer pulled over a 2012 Chrysler vehicle for speeding on Eight Mile Road near Allen Road. The driver, 27-year-old Michael Thomas of Detroit, provided police with the false name of Erik Thomas, then fled the scene when the officer asked him to step out of his car.

The officer pursued Thomas into Detroit until Thomas bailed out of his vehicle in front of a house in the 20200 block of Santa Barbara Drive, Wilson said. After a short foot pursuit, police were able to arrest Thomas on Norfolk Avenue, near Monica Street.

A check of Thomas’ record revealed that he has a suspended driver’s license and was previously convicted of driving with a suspended license in October 2009 out of Port Huron. Wilson noted that Thomas is also a parole absconder, and a hold has been placed on him by the Michigan Department of Corrections. “He is on a tether out of Lansing for a case involving dangerous drugs,” Wilson said.

Wilson also pointed out that while the suspect in both cases has the last name Thomas, “there is no known relationship” between the two men.

On Feb. 14, Terrance Thomas was arraigned in Ferndale 43rd District Court on charges of second-degree fleeing and eluding police, receiving and concealing stolen property, and driving with a suspended license. Michael Thomas was arraigned Feb. 13 on charges of second-degree fleeing and eluding police, providing a false identity to police, and driving with a suspended license second or subsequent offense.

Magistrate James Brennan set bond for both defendants at $50,000 cash or surety and scheduled them for a pre-exam conference at 1 p.m. Feb. 23.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.