The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Police Blotter
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2008
At 6:48 p.m. April 22, Ypsilanti police Officer Michael Rini responded to a call in the 500 block of Emerick Street of several people fighting with knives. As he approached the address, Rini noted several people walking eastbound on Auburndale Avenue from Emerick Street.
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Making contact with the subjects, Rini talked with one suspect who admitted to having a bag of marijuana in a back pocket and another in a front pants pocket. The suspect said he was selling marijuana since he had lost his job the week before. He was arrested.
At 6:56 p.m. April 22, Ypsilanti officers Joshua Lawther and Uriah Hamilton witnessed a vehicle being driven in a reckless manner on Spring Street. They conducted a traffic stop and found the driver had four passengers in the vehicle. He consented to a search of the vehicle.
During that search, the officers found a handgun in a red backpack on the passenger-side floorboard. The driver said the backpack was his, but the gun was not. He said he knew the gun was there, but it belonged to a man called "Ray-Ray".
The driver's account was corroborated by one of the passengers, who said "Ray-Ray" had put the gun in the backpack while the men were playing basketball at Prospect Park.
The driver said "Ray-Ray" carried the gun for his own protection and had forgotten it when the game broke up and the driver and his male passenger went to pick up the female passengers, who had called for a ride.
The driver was arrested on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.
On April 24, Ypsilanti police arrested one of two juveniles in connection with an assault that occurred on April 18 at Prospect Park. The second suspect was turned in to police by his mother the following day.
The 12-year-old victim, a sixth-grade student at East Middle School, said he was approached by two eighth-grade students whom he knew from the school. The first suspect said he was angry that the younger boy had called him names. He then punched the victim in the jaw.
The second suspect then began punching the victim. When the victim's friends tried to come to his aid, the second of the older boys threatened them.
The victim finally managed to get away and ran home. He was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center, where he was admitted with a jaw broken in several places and a severe laceration. He has since been released.
After police interviewed the victim and witnesses who corroborated the victim's story, Chief Matt Harshberger ordered the arrest of the two suspects. The first suspect was arrested at East Middle School by School Liaison Officer Elizabeth Hunt, but the second suspect was not in school that day. That suspect was turned in to police last Friday by his mother.
Both suspects were lodged in the Washtenaw County Juvenile Detention facility.
-Kathleen Conat
Violent man subdued
Ypsilanti police officers Joseph Yuhas and Peter Wist responded to a call in the first block of South Summit Street last Saturday of a man being very violent.
The officers made contact with the man's girlfriend. The officers got the man to go outside with them, where they called for a supervisor.
Sgt. Deric Gress responded and talked to the girlfriend as the officers kept the man occupied outside. She said he had a history of violence, including fighting with law enforcement officers. Huron Valley Ambulance was called to transport the subject.
While waiting for HVA, the subject removed his shirt and took a fighting stance, threatening Yuhas and Wist. Yuhas tackled the subject to the ground, while Wist grabbed his arm and attempted to restrain him.
The man broke free and began fighting the officers. At that time, the girlfriend informed that the subject was a champion wrestler.
Sgt. Gress used a Taser gun to subdue the man, who went to the ground. HVA personnel then restrained him on a backboard for transportation to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
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