By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — The quick thinking of Wyandotte Police Officer David Todd at 8:40 p.m. June 9 on southbound Biddle Avenue near Alkali may have prevented two vehicles from speeding into a crowd of people at the Swiggin’ the Pig Carnival further south.
A silver Mustang and a gray Honda Accord were driving 110 mph south on Biddle when a traffic stop was initiated with lights and sirens, which both drivers ignored. Instead, less than half a mile from the downtown festival, which was filled with pedestrians, the drivers turned onto Cedar Street in an attempt to evade the police officer.
From westbound Cedar, the drivers went north on 5th Street, then west on Ford Avenue, where the officer terminated the chase in the interest of public safety.
Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton speculated that the two vehicles may have been involved with narcotic trafficking – thus, their flight.
“The officer achieved his goal by diverting them away from the crowded downtown event,” Hamilton said. “Although we will never know the actual outcome or sequence of events if the officer did not intercept the vehicles, it’s hard to argue that the likelihood of severe injury or death was much higher than if the vehicles would not have been intercepted by the police officer.”