Real Changing Stories of the Michigan State Police

[XLFD]

The early indications of a tragic accident pointed one way according to the statements of the Michigan State Police on FOX 2 Detroit

DETROIT (WJBK) - "A teenager is dead after a pursuit with Michigan State Police on Detroit's east side Saturday.

The crash happened at approximately 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Rossini Drive near Gratiot Avenue. The family says they were watching 15-year-old Demond Grimes ride his four wheeler down the street when they say a trooper approached trying to pull the teen over.

According to Michigan State Police, a trooper attempted to stop the ATV with lights and sirens, but the driver refused to stop, leading to a pursuit. 

MSP pursued the ATV east on Rossini Drive toward Gratiot Avenue and according to police, the driver of the ATV attempted to drive off the roadway, but lost control and crashed into the back of a pickup truck."

A news release about the incident was distributed to some media, like WZZM news, who reported early Monday (8/28) that:  "The boy, whose name was not released, fled on his four-wheeler after troopers tried to stop him for reckless driving about 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Rossini Drive, west of Gratiot, in Detroit's northeast corner, First Lt. Michael Shaw said in a news release.

The chase went east on Rossini toward Gratiot where the teen tried to drive off the road onto the sidewalk, but lost control and hit the rear of a pickup truck, Shaw said. Troopers immediately began CPR but the boy was pronounced dead at St. John's Hospital."

But the official account in that news release was nothing more than a lie by that same MSP Lieutenant according to a statement made later on Monday.  As is being reported on WXYZ and other media: 

"Shaw says after an investigation, they found the trooper deployed his taser, striking the 15-year-old before the crash."

If that isn't completely reckless behavior then I don't know the meaning of the word.  The unnamed officer, let's call him Trooper Stoopid for now, was able to get close enough to the boy on his ATV "driving recklessly" to not only shoot his taser, but connect and set the death of a young man in motion.  If we believe the MSP Lieutenant's late Monday story, rather than the original press release painting their troopers as dutiful and heroic. 

For if we believe the family who witnessed this incident, they have an even more compelling take.  The original article contained the witnessing aunt of the deceased relating even a different story:

"They ran into the back of him, made him fly off his bike, onto a truck and killed him. The state trooper who actually hit him actually pulled off and left. We're not getting answers from no one," said the victim's aunt, Kimberly Powell.

These accounts make the taser admission even more compelling, for the trooper would have had to shoot the taser from the driver's side of his vehicle, and this seems to coincide with the witness accounts.  For if Trooper Stoopid shot the boy with his taser from out of his window, he would have been aside of the boy, and would have had to have been the vehicle that was ran into due to the damage to the ATV, the obtuse collision with the front of the trooper's vehicle sending his body over towards the parked vehicles. 

This would explain why the trooper allegedly pulled away and left the scene, and why there is no apparent damage to any of the trucks parked in that vicinity (if you watch the video of the original article).  The damage would only incriminate the trooper more to the media and others who showed up.  Not surprisingly, the video also shows only the MSP handling the investigation of the case well into the darkness many hours after this incident happened.   

What kind of pompous and corrupted police agency would think of doing that rather than have another police agency do the investigation?  The same pompous and corrupted agency that would openly tell falsehoods in a press release, before realizing that an autopsy on their victim would determine a MSP taser had been deployed on him. 

[John Doe Jr]

How sad, sick and, twisted.

Hunted a child down like a wild animal.

The line is a disgrace to the Human Race'

Where is the "Good Cop" to stand up for this murdered child?

Who would call this Trooper a Hero?

[Willy]

There was poor judgement galore in this situation. The first was committed by the teen who tried to run from the police, The second was the officer's use of a taser, especially on someone operating a motor vehicle. The third was the MSP conducting an investigation of the incident  instead of handing it over to the DPD. The fourth was the release of a false story to the public by the MSP.  I want to hear this story in it's entirety when all of the information [truth] is finally revealed.

[XLFD]

That 'truth' may be difficult to wade to.  For one, we cannot assume a police agency that has lied about important aspects of this story is being square with us on the basics of this case.  Had the trooper activated his lights and siren, a dash cam should have came on.  As has been clear in other cases, the MSP who have tens of millions of $$$ to create new headquarters every decade, can't afford to have dash cams in some vehicles, and when they do they don't seem to operate right. 

ATV's are noisy, it was 5:30 PM at the incident time, if the trooper activated both they may have not been noticed.  The MSP have also not indicated why they believe the kid was driving recklessly, that's a fairly strong base charge for someone who had not ran into anything, been reported, or caused any accidents.  The trooper had the power to inform the kid that he shouldn't have been riding in the road, if ATV's were not allowed there (the local laws may allow them with conditions, like Ludington's does), but violated reasonable protocols in getting to that point.