TAYLOR (WWJ) - A driver is being praised for stopping to help a state trooper on a Downriver freeway ramp on Thursday after they realized he was in trouble, officials said.
Michigan State Police said the trouble began when a trooper with the Metro South Post saw a stopped motorcycle at the ramp from I-94 westbound to Telegraph Road in Taylor around 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17.
The trooper pulled over and ran a check on the bike while the driver was in the surrounding woods, only to discover it had been stolen.
The state police officer went to arrested the suspect, but he began fighting the trooper, MSP said.
"When the trooper and suspect fell to ground the trooper lost all feeling in his arms and had to lay on the suspect to keep him under control," MSP stated.
During the struggle, a driver passing by the scene saw the trooper on top of the man and realized he was in trouble.
The good Samaritan stopped and helped the trooper handcuff the suspect, MSP said.
The trooper eventually regained feeling in his arms shortly after the incident. He was checked out at a local hospital and released.
The suspect was taken into custody where he currently awaits identification and charges by the prosecutor's office.
MSP 1st Lt. Mike Shaw praised the motorist for stopping and said the situation could have ended up a lot worse had he kept going.
“While the national media narrative is that the police and community do not work together, again we see this is just not true," Shaw said. “We are very lucky that this motorist recognized that his trooper was in trooper and stopped to help. We are grateful to him that this did not end with the trooper seriously hurt or killed.”