By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — After responding to reports of gunfire at 2:45 a.m. Jan. 8, Wyandotte police officers pursued two men on a high-speed chase, which ended in Monroe County and resulted in the suspects’ arrest.
Following reports of shots fired in the 600 block of North Drive, where a witness saw a man fire several rounds before fleeing in a gold minivan, a police officer spotted the suspects’ vehicle fleeing west on Emmons Boulevard, approaching Fort Street.
The police officer engaged the police vehicle’s emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver continued to flee at a high rate of speed, taking northbound Fort Street to westbound Southfield Road, then entering the southbound I-75 freeway.
The pursuit continued on I-75 at speeds exceeding 100 mph.
The suspects took exit 11 in Monroe County, and soon afterward collided with a pursuing police vehicle, which caused their minivan to crash into a fence, after which it became inoperable.
The two men then attempted to flee on foot. The driver tripped and fell, and was quickly overtaken. The passenger fled for several more blocks before he was apprehended. A fully loaded firearm was recovered during the arrests.
Wyandotte Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton said the men are persons of interest in other serious crimes, in addition to the fleeing and eluding.
Police officers from Brownstown Township, Monroe and the Monroe County sheriff’s departments assisted Wyandotte police officers.
The driver, Antonio Michael Harris, 26, of Dearborn Heights, was arraigned Jan. 10 before Judge Elizabeth DiSanto in 27th District Court. He was charged with malicious destruction of property between $1,000 and $20,000, a 5-year felony; fleeing and eluding, a 5-year felony; and as a second notice habitual offender. He was given a $50,000 cash bond.
The passenger, a 26-year-old Romulus man, will be charged in Monroe County.
Hamilton said the police officers did an amazing job detecting, pursuing and apprehending the suspects.
“These men will not be able to victimize anyone else for some time,” he said. “Collectively, these officers made our entire community a safer place.”