KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — A Kalamazoo Public Safety officer is recovering from abrasions he suffered after being assaulted by a man who was harassing a 14-year-old girl.
The officers were dispatched to the child’s 911 call after she had been trailed to a grocery store by the stranger. The teenager said the man kept calling out to her, followed her, and was waiting when she walked out of the market on Mills Street.
When officers confronted the man, he ran off, jumping several fences as officers gave chase. Then, they cornered him behind a garage.
The suspect then assaulted one of the officers. A Taser was deployed, but it proved ineffective and he got away.
The girl was not hurt.
The suspect is described as a thin, six-foot-two black male wearing a black varsity jacket, black pants with gray boxer shorts and a black knit cap.
UPDATE — 10/2 at 12:05 p.m.: A 40-year-old parolle has been arrested in connection with the officer assault, according to Kalamazoo Public Safety.
They say the suspect was tackled on Terrace Court after running from police for about a block before 11 p.m. Thursday, but escaped after wrestling with an officer on the pavement. He would eventually be taken into custody in the 600 block of Clinton Street.
Investigators say they found a tossed handgun that was stolen out of Iowa in the 500 block of Terrace Court, where officers first spotted the suspect that night.
After he was taken to the agency’s headquarters, they claim the suspect attemtpted to hide two Taser probes on the floor of the holding room. Investigators believe the probes came from the same Taser that was deployed on the man earlier that morning.
The man is jailed on multiple charges, including assaulting an officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm, trespassing, violating parole and receiving and concealing stolen property. His name has not been released.
– John McNeill/Anthony Pollreisz
