OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) – A 56-year-old man from Lyon Township who was arrested following a slow-speed chase, tried to hide in a pond.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a Be On the Lookout alert just before 7 p.m. Thursday from Livingston County for a driver who had fled a traffic stop and was suspected of driving under the influence of crack cocaine and alcohol.
A deputy spotted the vehicle in Lyon Township and tried to pull it over, but the driver refused to stop.
The chase continued at slow speeds across multiple jurisdictions.
Police say that during the pursuit, the man rammed two Wixom Police Department patrol vehicles and later intentionally struck an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle.
The chase moved through Milford and into Highland Township. A deputy used a Pursuit Termination Technique maneuver near Hickory Ridge Road and Rose Center Road to safely stop the vehicle.
The driver got out and ran into a wooded area before entering a nearby pond in an apparent attempt to escape. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office brought in the Search and Rescue Team, K-9 Unit and Drone Team to search for him.
Deputies searched the pond using sonar equipment and an AquaEye underwater detection device and combed through nearby buildings and wooded areas but couldn’t find him.
Around 3 a.m. Friday, police responded to a report of a suspicious person near North Milford Road and Wardlow Road in Highland. Deputies recognized the man as the suspect and arrested him without incident.
He is facing multiple charges, including fleeing and eluding police, resisting and obstructing a police officer, felonious assault of a police officer and operating while license revoked.
The man will be identified when he is arraigned.
