The last of five suspects involved in a Macomb County crash that killed a motorist during a police chase last week has been arrested, officials said.
“A fifth juvenile was identified and arrested yesterday,” Warren Police Lt. John Gajewski said Wednesday. “No suspects are outstanding.”
Gajewski made the remarks during a news conference at the Warren Police Department with Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido and Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins. He said the suspected driver is scheduled to be formally charged via video through the 37th District Court in Warren on Wednesday afternoon.
Officials also identified the motorist who died after the crash as Remions Washington, 48, also of Detroit.
“I want to extend my deepest condolences on behalf of every member of this department to the family and friends of Mr. Washington,” Hawkins said. “This is a profound tragedy that no officer ever wants to see. The gravity of this loss is felt deeply by every single one of us.”
However, the commissioner also laid blame for Washington’s death at the feet of the 17-year-old suspect, who was allegedly driving the fleeing vehicle that struck his car.
“Let me be clear about the nature of this incident: We’re here today because a 17-year-old murdered Mr. Washington,” he said.
“We’re here because of the deliberate, calculated chain of choices made by that individual,” Hawkins said. “That 17-year-old chose to drive recklessly in our city. He chose to flee from the police. He chose to use a 4,000-plus-pound vehicle as a weapon against innocent members of our community.”
The charges
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said his office has charged the suspected driver as an adult with murder, a life felony without parole, second-degree murder, which is punishable by up to life in prison, first-degree fleeing and eluding police causing death, a 15-year felony, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, also a 15-year felony, and receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle, a five-year felony.
He has also been charged with possessing burglary tools, a five-year felony, and resisting arrest, a two-year felony, the prosecutor said.
Lucido said the defendant’s name will not be released until after he is arraigned.
“These are all serious charges that could land this young man behind bars for the rest of his life,” Lucido said. “But he took a life.”
He said the other suspects, ages 15, 15, 14, and 11, are being charged as juveniles.
They have been charged with receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle, possessing burglary tools, and resisting arrest.
“I say to you, where’s the supervision?” the prosecutor asked. “Where are the individuals who are supposed to take charge of these juveniles?”
“They were engaging in behavior that cost a man his life, cost a family a life,” he said. “There’s no way I can make justice for this family.”
‘Doing nothing is not an option’
Lucido urged state lawmakers to pass legislation with harsher penalties for those convicted of fleeing from police in a vehicle.
Last year, Lucido announced his office would no longer offer plea deals for anyone charged with fleeing and eluding police amid a surge in crashes caused by drivers attempting to evade law enforcement.
“I suggest the legislature act immediately on this,” Lucido, a former state lawmaker, said. “Doing nothing is not an option. Find the solution.”
Last fall, two state lawmakers introduced legislation that would impose stricter penalties on those who lead police on chases. Lucido said Wednesday that the proposed law hasn’t moved forward in Lansing.
The chase and crash
The news conference was nearly a week after the crash, which happened in the intersection of Schoenherr and Eight Mile roads.
After the crash, five people inside the fleeing vehicle, a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck, exited the vehicle and ran, according to police.
Gajewski said officers found and arrested four of the pickup’s occupants, but one escaped. Officials said Wednesday that the five suspects are Detroit residents, and the pickup’s suspected driver is a 17-year-old boy. One of the suspects who was taken into custody is his 11-year-old brother, they said.
According to a preliminary investigation, Warren officers on patrol at about 2 a.m. tried to conduct a traffic stop on a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck in the area of Fairfield and Georgiana avenues near Groesbeck Highway and Eight Mile Road.
On Wednesday, Gajewski said the officers tried to conduct the traffic stop because the truck had a broken headlight. He add investigators later learned the vehicle had been reported stolen out of the Grosse Pointe area.
Police said the officers saw multiple occupants wearing ski masks inside the truck while it traveled through the area.
The truck’s driver failed to stop and fled, according to authorities. Police followed the vehicle to southbound Schoenherr Road, then toward Eight Mile, investigators said.
Officials said the pickup’s driver disregarded a red traffic signal at the intersection of Schoenherr and Eight Mile and hit a vehicle traveling west.
Gajewski said it appears Washington, who was driving the struck vehicle, saw the police sirens and was trying to pull over into the right lane when the crash happened.
He said first responders immediately rendered aid until medics arrived and took Washington to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials also showed members of the media police dashcam video of the seven-minute-long car chase and crash on Wednesday.
Police said they believe the suspects are behind at least 15 vehicle-related thefts reported throughout Warren in the last 48 hours.
“Forty-eight hours preceding the incident … our neighborhoods in southeast Warren experienced a significant surge in vehicle-related crimes,” Gajewski said. “There were upwards of 17 reported thefts, break-ins, and attempted car thefts. The thefts were concentrated in the same area where the suspects were spotted and fled from officers.”
Warren police also said Wednesday that last week’s police chase was monitored by supervisors via radio, according to the department’s policy.
Hawkins said the number of police car chases in the city of Warren has fallen about 45% over the last three years. He said about 60% of those ended when police officers opted to terminate the pursuits.
Other police pursuits
Last week’s incident is among the most recent involving a vehicle fleeing from police.
In April, a Garden City man was charged after he allegedly led police on a car chase that ended when he crashed into a Ferndale store.
The same month, a 19-year-old fleeing the Michigan State Police was shot by officers after he struck another vehicle during a car chase in Inkster.
In March, two people died after a driver trying to elude Clinton Township police crashed into their vehicle.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Fleeing suspect in deadly Warren crash charged
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
