COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Michigan State Police handled an unusual vehicle pursuit in Branch County early today which they say included a naked driver who fled from a highway rest area after exposing himself to several people.
Trooper Britt Owen says it started around 3:30 a.m. Thursday at the MDOT Michigan Welcome Center on northbound I-69 south of Coldwater. According to Owen, at least two women were among several people who reported a man standing naked atop a picnic table at the Welcome Center and touching his private parts as they drove into rest area.
Trooper Owen said he was able to sneak up on the suspect, whose car was located in front of two parked semi-tractor trailers. Owen twice tased the man, who had the driver’s door to his Pontiac Grand Prix open. However, Owen said the man still managed to withstand the shocks to his system, close the door, and speed away with the taser wires and gun hanging loose as he fled the scene.
Owen chased the car north to the Fenn Road exit onto Business Loop I-69 into the city of Coldwater, where the pursuit ended in less a mile with the vehicle coming to stop in a front yard. The suspect tried to make a run for it but was wrestled down by Owen moments later.
The Coldwater area man was taken to the Branch County Jail and then transferred to the Community Health Center of Branch County for a blood draw and to be examined for minor injuries.
The suspect’s name is being withheld pending arraignment in District Court.
