Two Shelby Township officers badly injured while attempting to make arrest

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Two Shelby Township police officers reportedly were injured while attempting to make an arrest in the 51000 block of Clear Spring Lane, near 23 Mile and Ryan Roads, at 10:45 p.m. Sept. 9.

The officers were investigating a call that reported four individuals in a Cadillac Escalade allegedly shooting a gun at innocent people. According to police, a witness got the SUV’s license plate, and that plate came back registered to a residence on Clear Spring Lane.

Officers went to the residence, according to the Police Department, and saw the Escalade parked in the driveway. The department said the officers interviewed people at the residence and decided to impound the vehicle. The officers reportedly believed that the Escalade had been used during the commission of a felony.

Police said that as a tow truck driver was preparing the Escalade to be towed, a resident of the Clear Spring Lane home, Sam Kassab, 55, told his 15- and 16-year-old sons to block in the tow truck with another vehicle.

According to police, Kassab then began to push officers and the officers advised him that he was under arrest. Kassab began fighting with one sergeant and one officer who were attempting to place him under arrest, according to police.

As officers muscled Kassab to the ground and were attempting to handcuff him, Kassab’s 15-year-old son “snuck up and violently attacked both the sergeant and the officer who were attempting to arrest the elder Kassab,” a police press release states. Additional officers arrived at the scene, and Kassab and his sons were taken into custody. Police said that the tow truck driver helped end the attack on the officers.

The sergeant and the officer were taken to the hospital immediately. Police said the officer lost consciousness for a moment when he was attacked, and he was treated for a concussion and lacerations on his face.

Police said the sergeant was treated for a concussion, facial lacerations, broken orbital bones and numerous broken facial bones and will need to see a facial surgeon. Both the sergeant and the officer were continuing to experience medical issues due to the assault and were unable to return to work, according to a Sept. 14 post on crimewatch.net.

Sam Kassab was arraigned in 41A District Court Sept. 11 on charges of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing serious impairment; assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury; and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. At the arraignment Sept. 11, Judge Denis R. LeDuc set bond at $600,000 cash or surety.

On Sept. 13, Judge Douglas P. Shepherd granted an emergency bond hearing, and Kassab was released from custody after Shepherd reduced Kassab’s bond to $100,000 cash or surety.

Kassab’s attorney, Peter A. Torrice, could not be reached for comment before press time. Dawn Fraylick, communications director for the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, also could not be reached for comment before press time.

Shelby Township police said that the 15-year-old was held at the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center and charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing serious impairment; assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury; assault or assault and battery; and DNA – refuse or resist providing samples.

Police said his bond was set at $500 cash or surety, 10%, by Referee Kristin Stone.

The 16-year-old also was lodged at the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center and charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. His bond also was set at $500 cash or surety, 10%, by Stone.

A 55-year-old resident of Troy also was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, according to Shelby Township police.

The department said that “additional charges are pending against other subjects who were involved in the obstruction of this investigation.”

Robert Shelide, Shelby Township police chief released a prepared statement about the incident.

“Our officers are committed to protecting our citizens from these random acts of violence by doing their part to hold these offenders accountable. We now have two officers off the road due to injuries and three offenders still on the streets,” Shelide stated.

A department representative said that police could not comment beyond the press release.

Kassab’s probable cause hearing was scheduled for Sept. 20, and his preliminary examination was scheduled for Sept. 26 in the 41A District Court.