WHITE LAKE (WWJ) – An Oakland County teenager is dead after drowning while trying to run from police over the weekend.
Around 2 a.m. Sunday White Lake Township police officers were called to the Tractor Supply Company store on Highland Road after an alarm was triggered.
When an officer showed up, they saw two teens climbing down from the roof of the building. Once they saw the officer, they began to run, disregarding the officer’s commands, police officials said.
One teen was soon taken into custody nearby, while the other — since identified as 16-year-old Joe Paduchowski — continued to run into a nearby wooded area. Officers began searching the area with help from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Canine Team, but never found him.
Shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday his family filed a missing person report with the police department after he hadn’t returned home. White Lake officers began searching the surrounding areas with help from the Oakland County Search and Rescue Team (SSRT).
Around 10 p.m. Sunday divers with the SSRT found Paduchowski’s body in a small pond near the area of Highland Road and Maple Heights Drive.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told WXYZ TV it is a “very tragic situation.”
“Good kids make bad choices, we all know that. You hope that they get a chance to learn from it and get a second chance and move on with their life. In this case, that won’t happen for this young man, it won’t happen for the family,” Bouchard told the outlet.
A funeral will be held next Saturday. His family has asked in lieu of flowers for people to instead send donations to the Lakeland High School Football Program in memory of their son, who was a player on the Eagles’ team.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Paduchowski family with expenses.
The case remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office.