By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — Former Southgate police officer Mitchell Heaney, 25, will face felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly hitting a motorcycle rider while driving and leaving the scene of the accident.
During a Wednesday arraignment before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Margie Braxton, Heaney was charged with a felony count of failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident, which carries a potential five-year prison sentence. Heaney was further charged with two misdemeanors, leaving the scene of an accident and causing serious impairment, each with a potential 90-day jail term.
Heaney is charged with causing the accident at about 5 a.m., Aug. 22 on Telegraph Road in Brownstown Township. Heaney was allegedly driving a vehicle belonging to a friend when he hit a motorcycle, a collision that resulted in extensive injuries to the rider. Among the pieces of evidence at the scene was the bumper and license plate of the vehicle Heaney was driving.
Southgate Police Chief Jeffrey Meussner said that Heaney was placed on leave following the accident pending an internal investigation, and dismissed from the department after his initial arraignment in September.
During a preliminary exam held last month in Woodhaven’s 33rd District Court, Judge Jennifer Coleman Hessen heard testimony from the accident victim and eyewitnesses before sending the case to the circuit court.
Heaney remained free on $10,000 bond.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)