Prosecutor’s Office is considering charges against driver
Firefighters use a power saw to free a car that crashed into Surma Bazar market on Jos. Campau, located just north of Caniff.
By Charles Sercombe
A Detroit driver who ran a red light recently and crashed into a police car and then a building was seeking to flee the scene.
In a follow-up to The Review’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for an incident report about the May 11 accident, the report has several references to the driver appearing to want to flee.
After striking the police car in the intersection of Jos. Campau and Caniff, the 19-year-old Detroit driver then smashed into the Surma Bazar market on Jos. Campau.
The police report released to The Review redacted all names of those involved in the accident.
The city said it blocked out the names of those involved because the accident investigation is ongoing. Police Chief Anne Moise told The Review that the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office is considering whether to charge the driver with a crime.
The city initially denied The Review’s FOIA request because the investigation is ongoing, but released the redacted report after the newspaper submitted an appeal.
Hamtramck resident Maggie Srodek, who was a witness to the accident, told The Review that the driver looked like he was about to run away after he got out of his car.
The report said no alcohol or drugs were involved, but the report also said that the department did not test for those substances, or in the wording of the report, those tests were “not offered.”
The driver allegedly ran a red light while traveling at a high speed northbound on Jos. Campau at Caniff.
There were no serious injuries.
The incident report said the 19-year-old driver was “detained by a Detroit police officer due to attempting to leave the scene of the accident.”
But the report also leaves some wiggle room for the suspect’s perceived attempt to flee.
The report said the driver “appeared to be disoriented from the traffic crash and was unable to state what happened during the incident.”
Nevertheless, the suspect was issued a ticket for leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, running a red light, and having no insurance.
Posted June 26, 2020
Below is the redacted accident report:
2020-06-27_134137 2020-06-27_134312 2020-06-27_134406 2020-06-27_134441 2020-06-27_134515 2020-06-27_134548 2020-06-27_134630 2020-06-27_134704
8 Responses to Prosecutor’s Office is considering charges against driver
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Roadman
June 26, 2020 at 8:00 pm
Chip:
Can you provide a link to the redacted police reports released under FOIA?
csercombe
June 27, 2020 at 1:52 pm
just posted links at the bottom of the story.
Roadman
June 27, 2020 at 8:15 pm
Thanks for the links.
It is unclear why the Wayne County Prosecutor is reviewing the case if the motorist already has been ticketed. The police report indicate a State of Michigan ID card and a Fifth Third bank debit card issued to another individual were taken from the motorist at the time of his arrest; it is unclear whether the police have attempted to verify the arrestee’s story of how he came into possession of these items or whether the Wayne County Prosecutor review relates to those cards.
The criminal offense of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident is punishable in the State of Michigan by a maximum of one year in jail.
I fail to see any facts that justify any hit-and-run charge: the report discloses the car careened from the point of collision straight into a storefront. There are no witness statements alluded to in the report that suggest that the motorist had ran away from his vehicle or made any movements away from the vehicle – although the report does not mention that a private citizen pulled a handgun on him and forced him to his knees. The fact that he was dazed at the scene seems to refute he had any intent of fleeing the scene. The UD-10 Traffic Crash Report report gives a “C” code for injury – meaning the motorist complained of injury onsite.
If misdemeanor and civil infraction tickets have been filed with the District Court, then the identity of the driver should be a matter of public record. If he faces a high misdemeanor charge, he will need to be arraigned in the 31st District Court.
One questions why a DPD officer handcuffed a suspect within Hamtramck city limits.
One also questions why a private citizen’s use of a handgun to detain the driver was not included in the Hamtramck P.D. incident report. Should one making a prosecutorial decision have access to those facts to make an informed decision on whether or not to conclude the motorist was leaving the scene of an accident. One seems to question why the motorist would intend to flee if in fact his vehicle was embedded in a storefront and is easily traceable to himself.
This seems to be an ordinary auto accident case in an intersection – that is all.
Resident
June 28, 2020 at 3:09 am
Mrs. Srodek dodged a bullet. Imagine the same incident happening in these times.
Dennis Nowak
June 28, 2020 at 7:28 pm
@Resident:
You can say that again!
How does a driver “look like he is about to run away after he got out of his car”?
It seems as though the driver’s defense attorney needs to call Maggie Srodek as a witness in court. Being “about to run away” is not leaving the scene of an accident.
Dennis Nowak
June 28, 2020 at 7:33 pm
Police handling of this incident is a good example why a civilian police oversight board is needed?
Dennis Nowak
June 28, 2020 at 8:24 pm
@Roadman:
There is a mention that the driver appeared to try and cross the street, according to an unnamed witness – but nothing to indicate he was in any way attempting to leave the accident scene.
Perhaps it was this witness that the police relied upon in considering a hit-and-run charge – although the facts are hazy to establish a hit-and-run charge.
The police report also seems to indicate that the tickets were issued the same day the incident occurred
Realist
June 29, 2020 at 12:09 am
Quit acting like a person being dazed after being involved in an accident refutes any chance they were going to run. People flee accidents all the time and this seems no different.