Wyandotte police officers pursued a thief across four cities at 12:12 a.m. Feb. 1, which ended in the suspect crashing his vehicle in Detroit and attempting to flee on foot.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – A suspect in multiple Downriver thefts was arrested Feb. 1 following a high-speed, late-night police chase through four cities that ended with the man crashing his vehicle in Detroit.
Danny Lee Bailey, 34, was arraigned Feb. 4 in Wyandotte’s 29th District Court in front of Judge Elizabeth DiSanto on multiple charges, and is being held on a $250,000 cash bond at the Wayne County Jail, awaiting a Feb. 11 court date.
Wyandotte police officers were dispatched to CVS Pharmacy, 2025 Fort St., shortly after midnight Feb. 1 for a larceny-in-progress. Upon arrival, they identified the man as a suspect in multiple Downriver thefts, who was also a parole absconder.
Bailey, who fled in a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, led police on an extended chase on Fort Street, through Wyandotte, Lincoln Park, Ecorse and Detroit, at speeds exceeding 90 mph, in an attempt to elude capture.
He eventually crashed his vehicle on a lawn in Detroit, where he continued to rev the vehicle’s engine in an attempt to free his vehicle from the snow. When he broke free and gained traction, he deliberately hit a police patrol vehicle three times before steering back onto the road in an attempt to flee once more. However, the man crashed again soon afterward, and fled on foot.
Police officers received at tip at 9 a.m. that morning that Bailey was hiding in a nearby abandoned house, which, along with Detroit police officers, was searched and found to be empty. As they began to search the surrounding neighborhood, he was spotted, and they pursued him to a vacant house on Liddesdale Street in Detroit.
Bailey, who refused to surrender, claimed to be armed with a shotgun. However, following a standoff, he was taken into custody peacefully. Police officers searched, but did not find a firearm at the location.
Wyandotte Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton said they have reason to suspect that Bailey is responsible for numerous thefts in recent weeks in the Downriver area.
Hamilton said Bailey was charged with two counts of fleeing from a police officer, a five-year felony; one count breaking and entering, a five-year felony; three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony; one count malicious destruction of police property, a four-year felony; two counts of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, a two-year felony; one count of retail fraud, a one-year misdemeanor; one count of operating with a suspended license, a one-year misdemeanor; one count of reckless driving, a 93-day misdemeanor; and fourth offense notice for a habitual offender.