Grosse Pointe Farms

Young suspect injures police in altercation

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

A teen being sought by police for a reported drug deal allegedly fled and had to be chased and eventually Tasered after he refused to stop and then fought with police, leaving two officers injured.

According to police reports, officers were dispatched to the Hill after two young white males — one of whom was wearing a green baseball hat and one of whom was wearing a white shirt — were seen by a caller exchanging a small bag while sitting on a bench in the Messner Field area at 3:27 p.m. June 4. One of the reports indicated that the suspect in the white shirt gave the bag to the youth in the green hat, and when the youth in the hat noticed someone watching the transaction, he quickly slipped the bag into his back pocket.

Although the youth in the hat — who was later identified as another local male teen — left the area in a vehicle, police soon caught up with the white-shirted teen in the 100 block of Kercheval. The suspected drug dealer, a 16-year-old Farms boy, allegedly pushed an officer away while being questioned about the transaction and the other youth. The suspect is said to have taken off running with his backpack toward the south Kercheval alley, just after police asked what was in the backpack.

Although a patrol car was blocking the sidewalk in the area of Kercheval and Muir and the suspect was told to stop, police said he ran around the vehicle as they chased him toward Henry Ford Health Services—Cottage. Police said the suspect lost a shoe and dumped his backpack during the foot pursuit, and his cellphone fell as well. His loose, torn shorts eventually dropped to the ground near Cottage, causing him to trip. Even while on the ground, police said the suspect wrestled with an officer who was trying to arrest him. The officer sustained a forehead scratch, a cut underneath his nose and a tear on his left knee during the struggle, and was later treated for a swollen heel and ankle. The report indicates that the suspect kept looking at the gun on the officer’s hip and continuously punched and grabbed at the gun side of the officer during the struggle. They said they repeatedly verbally warned the suspect he would be Tasered if this didn’t stop, and after the suspect refused to stop looking at the weapon, the suspect was Tasered in the upper chest and upper abdomen. However, the electrical current seemed to have little effect on the suspect, who continued to struggle with the officer trying to handcuff him.

A second officer who was among those called to the scene was also injured as the suspect reportedly fought with police. The second officer is the one who used the Taser to stop the suspect.

It took additional officers to finally subdue the suspect and take him into custody in the 100 block of McKinley. Police asked the youth why he reacted so violently, and he said it was because he didn’t want his mother to find out that he was involved in the distribution of marijuana. The suspect, who is facing multiple possible charges, including possession and distribution of marijuana and resisting police, did not require medical attention, police said.

Police said the suspect’s backpack contained a jar with 24 grams of what a test showed to be marijuana, along with a small black scale. The youth had $60 in cash on him as well, according to the report.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.