DETROIT (WWJ) — A man is recovering in police custody after allegedly fleeing the scene of an “intentional crash,” running onto the freeway and purposely cutting himself with a knife in front of police.
It all unfolded shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, when police began receiving numerous calls about a man walking on the Lodge Freeway near Chicago Boulevard, according to Michigan State Police.
Authorities were able to use cameras to locate the man running in traffic. When the first MSP trooper arrived on scene, the man jumped over the median wall, officials said.
The trooper was able to catch up to him under the Chicago Blvd. overpass and noticed the man was armed with a pocket knife and holding it to his own throat, according to MSP.
The man gave himself a superficial cut on his neck before a deep cut on his left wrist, resulting in heavy bleeding.
As the man refused to drop the knife, the trooper deployed his taser, which caused him to drop the knife. While the man got up and began to run away, he was tackled a short time later and put in handcuffs.
The trooper immediately applied a tourniquet to the man’s arm to control the bleeding and he was rushed to the hospital, where he is receiving medical and mental treatment.
Once he was at the hospital, investigators learned the man had been involved in “an intentional car crash” on a nearby surface street and he ran away after surviving it. Authorities did not say what made the crash intentional or if anyone else was injured in the incident.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, MSP officials said the man was refusing to identify himself. Efforts were underway to ID him via fingerprint scanner.
“Great work by the trooper using his training and experience in order to bring the man into custody and get him the help he needed.” MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw said, via social media.
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