Prosecutor Hand Charges Crime Victim with Three Felonies

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Ludington Police Department Chief Christopher Jones released the following information to the local press:  Shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday January 19th "Ludington police officers and Mason County sheriff’s deputies were responding to an assault in progress in the 100 block of East Filer Street. “Upon arrival, officers discovered several people in the area, including one individual who had been assaulted with a pipe.  As the suspects fled, officers and deputies pursued them on foot to the 100 block of West Foster Street. During the pursuit and while attempting to place the suspects in custody, two Ludington police officers sustained injuries, including numerous cuts and scrapes, and a Mason County sheriff’s deputy suffered two broken bones, requiring treatment at Corewell Health Ludington Hospital. All suspects were eventually apprehended and transported to the Mason County Jail without further incident.”

Meet Maddox Rosloniec, Crime Victim

Three of the suspects were older teens from Manistee, but let's focus on a 20-year-old from Coopersville named Maddox Rosloniec, pictured below in his hometown's football gear with his proud parents on parent's night in October 2021.  

Maddox's involvement in this Ludington incident is mentioned throughout the police report, and the witnesses were pretty unanimous in what happened before the arrival of the police.  Kaitlyn, Ashley, Landon, and Maddox himself have accounts that are consistent and all indicate that Maddox was treated as a tackle dummy by the three alleged assailants from Manistee:

Police would indicate that Maddox was bleeding from his mouth when they initially talked with him.  What seems to have brought this all about?  Kaitlyn explains it in the most detail, without contradiction by others who witnessed events:

These and other accounts reflect a solid narrative:  Nathan was upset that his girl got a call from Maddox and left his party in Manistee, so he gathers three wingmen to follow her over to Ludington and teach his girl, Maddox and any others a lesson for doing such a thing.  With what Nathan wound up doing, one can bet that his hit on Kaitlyn's head was more mean than playful.

Regardless of narrative or intentions, Maddox Rosloniec was hit, kicked and struck with a lead pipe all for convincing a young woman to come to Ludington and then trying to peacefully resolve a problem through discussion with a gang from Manistee who had no inclination to do the same or refrain from using weapons.  

Meet Maddox Rosloniec, Crime Victim Charged with Three Felonies

Reading the court news above, you will see that Maddox was charged with three felonies for what happened that morning, all resisting/opposing a police officer causing injury.  In establishing his status as a crime victim above, we were diligent in reviewing what Maddox did before the arrival of police and came to the conclusion that he was apparently a victim of violence at the hands of three Manistee teens.  Here we will try to do the same in establishing his status as a felon who injured three law officers but be warned: we will be far less successful.

When I asked for the police report of this incident, I also asked for "body cam footage of the incident beginning at the arrival of the corresponding LPD unit and ending with the placement of arrestees in the back of police vehicles".  While the report's narrative would indicate that the arrest happened outdoors and that the LPD's arrest of Maddox would be only about ten minutes of footage total for Officer Jared Versluis and Officer Bryan Sanders from the points where they left their vehicles to placing Maddox in one of them, the only arrest LPD would make, the response indicated that it would cost about $550 to separate FOIA exempt material out of the footage.  The narrative on the report indicates no reasonable exemption would be in the footage, and the response offers no potential FOIA exemption. 

So why would ten minutes of footage without exemptions in a response where no exemptions are claimed require over 9 hours of a police captain's time to edit out non-existing exemptions?  This is a question that needs to be continually asked as the LPD and their FOIA Coordinator Ross "Sewage" Hammersley criminally obstruct the public from public records by erecting paywalls.  But rather than completely go off-topic, this fraud scheme is why we do not have body cam videos of the incident, yet.  

Not that the footage would do the LPD any favors as to why they seem to have bungled their way into charging a man with three felonies that would be seen as unwarranted in most other jurisdictions outside of Mason County.  Their own words and their own poor training on matters of law paint them clearly enough. 

Officer Versluis was first on scene of what was called in as an assault in progress for about ten minutes, the report was that two guys were beating up another one, that one likely was Maddox Rosloniec at that point.  Versluis narrative after leaving his vehicle, italics added for emphasis:

"I exited my cruiser and walked into the intersection of the alley, which was covered in a layer of ice, making the ground slippery and difficult to gain solid footing. Maddox, who standing near the door, appeared to stay where he was... I then turned my attention back to Maddox, who took off running southbound down the alley towards E. Foster Street. As I turned in his direction, I briefly lost my footing on the ice, almost falling. I regained my balance and yelled at Maddox, "Hey, come here! Stop!" I heard Maddox yell back, "I didn’t do anything," as he continued to run south towards E. Foster Street, ignoring my command. I began pursuing Maddox on foot, radioing that I had one running, providing a brief description that he was wearing a blue hoodie and pants...

When I reached E. Foster Street, I saw Ofc. Sanders, in a fully marked patrol car with his blue overhead lights activated, drive past me towards Maddox. Maddox ran into an empty parking lot at the northwest corner of S. James Street and W. Foster Street, continuing to flee from Dep. Priese while repeatedly yelling, "I didn’t do anything." Maddox then turned east, running around Ofc. Sanders' cruiser and towards me as we made eye contact. I yelled at Maddox to "stop!" twice but he again, ignored my commands. I attempted to grab Maddox as he came within arm's reach, but he turned away, running southwest and continuing to yell, "I didn’t do anything." I briefly lost my footing again but regained balance and continued to pursue him...

Maddox proceeded into a dirt parking lot behind Jamesport Brewing Company, which was covered in a sheet of ice, making the ground extremely slippery and providing unstable footing. Maddox turned west in the parking lot, but due to the ice, I was unable to stop until I collided with a wooden fence. I turned back west and observed both Ofc. Sanders and Dep. Priese had fallen and slid on the ice. I then saw Maddox disappear between two cars, though it appeared he fell as well. I additionally heard the “pop” of a taser being deployed and saw Dep. Priese had deployed his taser in an attempt to apprehend Maddox...

I proceeded around the west side of one of the vehicles and found Maddox on the ground with his arms underneath him but attempting to get up and he needed to be pushed back down. Maddox did not willingly place his arms behind his back; instead, he refused to do so, continuing to yell, "I didn’t do anything." Dep. Priese controlled Maddox's legs while Ofc. Sanders extracted Maddox’s right arm, and I controlled Maddox’s head before extracting his left arm. During this time, Maddox was given orders to give us his arms and I told him he was under arrest. Once both of Maddox’s arms were behind his back, I placed him in handcuffs. While handcuffing Maddox, Dep. Priese informed Ofc. Sanders and I that he believed he had broken his arm (later confirmed). Dep. Priese then left to seek medical treatment. During the arrest process, my body-camera was deactivated which I was

unaware of until afterwards. However, Ofc. Sanders body-worn camera was still on during this time.

Ofc. Sanders and I pulled Maddox off the ground and stood him on his feet. Maddox was bleeding from around the mouth, had slurred speech, and appeared highly intoxicated as there was a strong odor of intoxicants radiating from him which grew stronger when he spoke. Ofc. Sanders and I then escorted Maddox to my cruiser where he was placed into the backseat and seatbelted in."

Officer Sanders account was similar: "As Rosloniec turned to run southbound, I crossed S James St and parked my cruiser in the path of Rosloniec, who then went around the back of my patrol car. Exiting my cruiser I tried to apprehend Rosloniec but stumbled and fell. Back on my feet Sgt Versluis, Dep Priese and I continued to chase Rosloniec southwest into the rear parking lot of James Port Brewing. While chasing Rosloniec I yelled for him to "Stop" and "Get on the ground" multiple times, but Rosloniec continued to run, disobeying my commands. Rosloniec ran toward two vehicles in the lot. As Dep Priese and I tried to follow we both slipped on the ice covered parking lot and slid approximately 10-15 ft.  Just prior to us falling I heard a "pop" familiar to a taser being deployed. As I was getting up I could hear Dep Priese's taser had been activated. Getting up we found Rosloniec stopped running, unsure if he had fallen as well, and was sitting up against one of the vehicles. I told Rosloniec to "Get on the ground" and "Don't move."  **While pursuing Rosloniec he continued to yell "I didn't do anything multiple times."**"

 

The first question one may ask is why Maddox took off running when police started showing up.  We must remember that this was 5 AM in the morning in a dark alley where visibility was limited, that Versluis would be decked out in a dark blue jacket and well away from his parked vehicle, so that he may have viewed this as another antagonist that showed up when young officer Versluis authoritatively yelled for him to "Hey, come here.  Stop."  Versluis account never has him identify himself as a police officer or the legitimate reason for why Maddox should stop.  

Versluis was investigating an alleged assault, so his pursuit of Maddox was proper at that point, but Rosloniec's fleeing was not criminal in itself, which is why this doesn't show up in the charges.  In 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court reinforced this right in People v Prude, where one can end a police encounter if the police cannot articulate a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.  They could have offered that here, yet none of the three officers in pursuit of Maddox would explain why they were in pursuit, even after multiple insistences by Maddox that he didn't do anything went unanswered.  

This reluctance to say anything by the three officers continued after the detention was made and Rosloniec was handcuffed.  He was then told that he was being arrested, but no reason for the arrest was given.  The report indicates that 'fleeing and eluding' occurred, but this is a vehicle only offense.  Running from police is not a crime.  If all the information that police have is an unprovoked flight then you cannot be arrested for running from police, but you can be pursued and stopped for further investigation.

MCSO Deputy Priese's use of the taser on Rosloniec was not warranted.  Under Michigan law, a cop is only supposed to use a weapon when they have reasonable suspicion that the person is a threat or is committing a crime and is dangerous to the officer or to the public.  Taser guidelines indicate "mere flight from pursuing officers shall not serve as good cause for the use of the TASER to
apprehend an individual". 

A running individual who gets tasered can easily suffer severe injuries from the fall on a hard surface without any bodily control over that fall.  Deputy Priese should be severely reprimanded for his use of force in this instance, a broken arm received by his own clumsiness isn't enough for such reckless stupidity.  But then, his peers on the LPD aren't much better, making an unlawful arrest on Rosloniec immediately thereafter, rather than conduct an investigation on someone who is obviously fearful of the police, which is a fairly logical emotion in Ludington nowadays.  

It seems reasonable that Rosloniec was fearful of further assault when a voice came out of the dark directed at him and asking him to stop and come here.  Poorly trained officers pursued him without stating their authority or purpose for being there, deployed a taser on a fleeing individual before knowing anything about his involvement, and roughed him up further in conducting a wrongful arrest.  

Prosecutor Beth Hand looked at what happened here in this incident report and decided this crime victim deserved three charges of resisting/opposing causing injury, even when the injuries to the officers came when they slipped on the ice:

These are four-year felonies that are being sought by the prosecutor, meaning that Rosloniec faces up to 12 years in incarceration, $15,000 in fines, for his role in being punched, kicked, struck with a tire iron, shot at by a taser, gang tackled, handcuffed, and imprisoned on the early morning of January 19th.  Whenever you think your life is going bad, just look at what happened to this guy in the span of a half hour.  

The Ludington Torch will continue to pursue the LPD body cam videos and other records that should be provided by the sheriff's department and attend future court hearings in order to secure justice for this victim of crimes by multiple agencies, and by Manistee teens.