MECOSTA COUNTY (WWJ) – A group of suspects are facing charges after two men were arrested following a high-speed chase in West Michigan and another was found hiding in a home full of stolen items.
It all began shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday when Mecosta County Sheriff’s deputies tried to stop a “suspicious” pickup truck.
The sheriff’s office had learned the truck was stolen and may have been repainted to conceal it. After locating the truck at a home in Morton Township, southeast of Big Rapids, and conducting surveillance at the home, deputies saw the truck pull out.
Deputies who were stationed in an unmarked vehicle to intercept the suspects identified the driver as the suspect they were looking for when it drove past. The deputies in marked cars pulled behind the allegedly stolen pickup, which was pulling a small trailer.
When the deputies hit the lights and sirens, the suspect sped away, leading police on a chase that topped 110 mph through six different townships and villages, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office twice tried to deploy stop sticks to bring the chase to an end, but the suspect drove through the ditch to avoid the device.
The suspect then drove through a fence onto a small airport’s grass runway. Deputies then were able to use a PIT maneuver to finally stop the fleeing truck. Once the pickup was disabled, the driver and passenger both fled on foot from the scene.
They were eventually arrested and found to be in possession of meth, as well as a loaded, stolen and altered handgun.
Deputies also found stolen property, ammunition, and burglary tools in the pickup, which was confirmed stolen.
Deputies then followed up at the home where the suspects had initially left from, where they found an SUV, a car, a motorcycle and a trailer — all of which had been stolen.
Inside the home they also found other stolen property from numerous thefts — some of which had been reported, and some that hadn’t — as well as two sawed-off shotguns.
A woman hiding inside the home who was wanted was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said.
All the suspects were taken to the Mecosta County Jail, where they were lodged on multiple felony charges. Their names and charges are being withheld, pending arraignment in the 77th District Court.