VAN BUREN COUNTY (WKZO-AM) — A former Covert police officer charged with taking sexual advantage of a woman he met during a traffic stop has turned down a prosecutor’s plea bargain and will go to trial.
Erich Fritz is charged with kidnapping and raping a woman who was a passenger in the car of a man who was arrested for drunk driving. She was also inebriated.
Fritz took her to a motel room in Paw Paw, then took the man to jail. After his shift, he returned to the motel to check on the woman and they reportedly engaged in sex.
He claims it was consensual. She does not.
Prosecutors offer to lower the charge to unlawful imprisonment in exchange for a guilty plea but Fritz is rejecting the deal and will take his chances with a jury.
