High speed chase called off on I-69
IMLAY CITY — Quick action by an Imlay City police officer may have thwarted an attempted robbery Saturday morning.
Imlay City Police Chief Brett Selby said an Imlay City police officer was dispatched to Wendy’s on S. Cedar St. just before 11 a.m., regarding a white male that was causing a scene yelling and swearing inside the establishment.
“Our officer arrived on scene and was advised that the white male reported by witnesses was causing a scene, had left the building, and got into a black SUV, and then had returned inside the building several times,” Selby explained.
Upon arrival of police, the officer located the black SUV with the white male and a black male driver inside the vehicle, as reported by witnesses, and parked on the south side of the parking lot as the officer pulled up behind the suspect vehicle.
Chief Selby went on to say, “As the officer exited the patrol car to speak with the males inside the SUV, the driver then drove over the curb into the Speedway parking lot and out onto south bound Cedar St.”
According to police, the suspect vehicle continued onto south Cedar and proceeded to drive through the red light at the intersection of Newark and S. Cedar, in an attempt to get away from the officer.
A press release from the department stated the unidentified officer did activate the emergency lights and siren and proceeded through the intersection as the two suspects “blatantly attempted to elude the officer at a high rate of speed,” the report stated.
Chief Selby said while traveling on east bound I-69, the officer observed the suspect’s vehicle driving on the shoulder to pass several vehicles, and then quickly swerved into the fast lane, as the officer continued behind the vehicle for several miles.
“At one point, the vehicle pulled over to the shoulder and slowed down, and then pulled back onto the roadway and sped back up,” Chief Selby stated in the report.
According to police, at one point in the chase, the vehicle had reached speeds of around 100 mph, and the officer continued to follow the suspect vehicle with lights and siren.
St Clair County Sheriff’s Office did not have a deputy close to assist in the chase and the Imlay City officer then decided to terminate the chase well before the St Clair County line.
Chief Selby said the original call to Wendy’s was for disturbing the peace/disorderly conduct. In addition to the new charge of fleeing and eluding.
However, the suspect vehicle’s driver was sitting in a running vehicle, and the passenger covered the license plate prior to entering Wendy’s, which could have meant they were intending something much more serious prior to officers’ arrival, and possibly a robbery.
Police did not say if any weapons were known to be in the suspect’s vehicle. No injuries were reported
Chief Selby says the investigation by his department is ongoing.
