HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker had just poured himself a cup of coffee, and opened Facebook to peruse the last social media post when he saw a photo of a crashed Corvette with a story by a woman who said she was one of several people accosted by an armed man. (Full radio interview.)
Baker’s phone starting ringing and pinging with calls and text messages from his officers letting him know deputies were in pursuit of an armed carjacking suspect. Moments later, that suspect was shot in the chest area by one of two deputies who’d drawn guns on him.
By 5 p.m. Sunday, Baker, three Allegan County Sheriff’s detectives and a handful of evidence technicians were processing evidence of five stolen cars, reports that the suspect had exchanged gunfire with a homeowner — and allegedly shot at several other homes — and dealing with occupants of a home the 22-year-old suspect held captive before attempting to steal their car.
Michigan State Police officers are investigating the shooting, Baker told WHTC, as preliminary information on each incident was being collected. (See photo gallery.)
Baker juggled media interviews while communicating with his officers, perusing paperwork, and making plans to visit the various scenes. Each stolen vehicle will be handled as a separate case, he said.
“This was obviously happening very fast,” he said.
He said the suspect was shot once in the chest area, after failing to obey commands from deputies. Initially taken to Holland Hospital, he was transferred to Spectrum Health Butterworth.
Baker said he wasn’t immediately familiar with the suspect’s name — which will not be released until after the man is arraigned on criminal charges — but suggested some of deputies may have encountered him in the past.
“Right now we have multiple crime scenes, in multiple locations,” he said, recounting the first stolen vehicle report, at 7:15 p.m. Saturday in Hopkins; police linked that to a vehicle theft near Martin, followed by around 4 a.m Sunday
Baker said “it’s a good possibility” drugs are involved in the crime spree, which started with the report of a car theft at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. Rain and muddy conditions made it impossible for the K9 unit to track the suspect, but police were alerted to a Wayland vehicle theft that appeared to be related. A short police chase followed, going toward Hopkins, where the stolen vehicle crashed. A Corvette was taken from a home a few doors away from that crash — and the Corvette crashed near Allegan at about 4 a.m.
At that point, Baker said, the suspect used an AR-15 to carjack a vehicle, fleeing north on M-40. Police were then alerted that the suspect was shooting at homes in the area of 56th Street and 128th Avenue. The suspect then carjacked another vehicle, this time using a handgun, Baker said. Police confronted him as he was attempting to take a fifth vehicle.
Baker declined to share details of what types of vehicles were stolen over the 12-plus-hour spree, except to note that the third stolen vehicle was a Corvette, which crashed near Allegan. All the stolen vehicles were being towed to the Sheriff’s Office for evidence processing.
Baker said having Michigan State Police investigate the police-involved shooting, besides being standard procedure was important “because we want to make sure we do everything right.”
Allegan Sheriff’s officials will investigate the other crimes, with the possible exception of the gunfire exchange between the homeowner and the suspect. That incident investigation, Baker said, will have to be determined; it was unclear at 3 p.m. Sunday how closely that was related to the deputies’ gunfire.
Baker said a Covette reported stolen last Wednesday, June 6, 2019, was not related to this weekend’s series of incidents. As of Sunday afternoon, it did not appear that man was wanted in other counties, although he appears to be listed on the Michigan Department of Corrections’ website as an absconder from probation; he’d previously been charged with counterfeiting, according to state records.
City of Allegan police officers and Michigan State Police assisted Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies at various times during the spree.
Charges will be filed, Baker said, but the suspect will not likely be arraigned until he is discharged from the hospital, at which point he’ll be held at Allegan County Jail, Baker said.
