Two arrested after Meijer chase ends in Monroe County crash
Two people were arrested after a police chase ended in a crash Thursday evening.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office were called about a theft around 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Meijer in Frenchtown Township. Investigators said two people broke into an electronics display case. A deputy spotted their vehicle on Monroe Street near Mall Road and tried to stop it, but the driver sped away.
The driver continued onto southbound Interstate 275 and Interstate 75, then crashed in a construction zone near South Otter Creek Road. Both occupants ran from the vehicle, and officers used a drone to find them hiding in a nearby field, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver, a 27-year-old man from Fairmont, West Virginia, was taken to the Monroe County Jail. His passenger, a 17-year-old Detroit boy, was held at the Monroe County Youth Center.
Investigators believe the pair may be connected to other recent thefts at Meijer stores in the Downriver area. The driver was awaiting arraignment in Monroe County’s 1st District Court.
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information can call the sheriff’s office at 734-240-7758.
When can a police agency face a lawsuit after a pursuit crash?
A police agency isn’t automatically liable because its officers pursued a driver. Michigan law generally protects public agencies from negligence lawsuits when they carry out governmental functions such as law enforcement.
The motor vehicle exception in MCL 691.1405 allows claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from a government employee’s negligent operation of a vehicle the agency owns.
In Robinson v. Detroit, the Michigan Supreme Court held that deciding to pursue is not enough by itself. To meet that exception’s causation requirement, the police vehicle must hit the fleeing vehicle, physically cause another vehicle or object to hit it or physically force it off the road or into another vehicle or object.
Michigan Legal Center explains the difference between claims against fleeing drivers and government agencies in its guide to police chase crash claims in Michigan.
Get help from Michigan Legal Center
Michigan Legal Center: the Law Offices of Christopher J. Trainor & Associates handles motor vehicle injury claims, including crashes involving police pursuits.
If you were injured in a police pursuit crash, Contact Michigan Legal Center to ask whether the matter falls within Michigan Legal Center’s practice areas.
There is no attorney fee unless money is recovered for you. Case costs and fee terms are governed by the written fee agreement.