By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – A police cruiser was hit twice recently after responding to a report of a man attempting to harm himself in the parking lot of Rite Aid, 1998 Biddle.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Nov. 24 officers responded to a call of a man slumped over his steering wheel and a female trying to help him.
Upon arrival, officers observed the man sitting in his locked vehicle “huffing” a bottle of pressurized duster. Huffing is defined as breathing inhalants to achieve an altered mental state. The woman, his live-in girlfriend, told police the man had been depressed and was trying to harm himself.
The 33-year-old man continued to inhale the duster despite the officer’s repeated orders to stop.
Another officer then attempted to force entry through a tinted driver’s-side window, when the driver put the car in reverse and struck the front end of the patrol car, which was parked behind his vehicle. He then put the car into drive and then into reverse, striking the patrol car again.
Officers then were able to break the window and unlock the vehicle. They extracted and handcuffed the man. He was transported to Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital and petitioned for a psychiatric evaluation. Police recovered four empty cans of inhalants, along with one half-empty can and five full cans from his vehicle.
A responding officer requested medical treatment at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital after a small object hit his eye while he was attempting to break the vehicle’s window. An eye wash revealed no corneal scratching and he was released.
The police vehicle sustained minor damage, including a broken mirror and was sent to a garage for repairs.