HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — The suspect arrested after a traffic stop in the Maple Avenue Ministries parking lot Friday, May 4, 2018, has been arraigned.
Jalen Russell Anthony, 19, was arraigned on felony charges of carrying concealed weapon; interfering with electronic communication device and domestic assault, according to a statement issued by the Holland Department of Public Safety.
Police found Anthony is also wanted in Van Buren County for a probation violaton on an unrelated charge.
Anthony remains in Ottawa County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond, where the only charge listed at 9 p.m. May 7, was felony domestic violence.
The HDPS statement indicated police were called to a West 10th Street home Friday morning where they were told that Anthony allegedly assaulted a woman while she was holding her child. Further, police were told, Anthony allegedly smashed the woman’s phone to stop her from calling 911, and that he had a black handgun, according to the HDPS statement.
Police began searching Anthony and at 6:15 p.m. Friday, spotted the vehicle matching the description given them, near the corner of 17th Street and Maple Avenue.
Four people, between 19 and 23 years old, were ordered out at gunpoint, according to the HDPS statement.
Anthony was arrested and a loaded gun was recovered from the vehicle, according to the HDPS statement.
The driver was arrested, cited and released for a driving offense; the remaining two passengers were released shortly after that.
As part of the HDPS statement on the arrest and charges, that HDPS addressed concerns about how the traffic stop was handled, after concerns that guns were held to the heads of suspects from the car after they were handcuffed.
The HDPS statement included the following information:
“When there is a suspect of a crime where a gun was used, and it is believed that suspect is in a vehicle, we consider that a high risk stop.
“This stop was handled as any high risk stop would be where all occupants are removed at gunpoint until the gun is recovered and it is considered safe.
“If you compare universally accepted police training across the country on how to deal with high risk traffic stops involving weapons, to how this incident was handled by our officers, they are consistent.
“We have done high risk stops like this plenty of times, on similar situations involving reports of crimes with weapons, regardless of the race or gender of the victims involved, suspects involved or witnesses involved.
“The Holland Department of Public Safety takes the safety of domestic violence victims, the safety of the public and the safety of our officers seriously, and we train to handle high risk situations in a manner that is considered the safest way to take a potentially violent person off the street and keep the public and our officers safe while doing so.”
