On March 6, 2017, at 12:43 a.m. Mason Police and Ingham County Sheriff’s Office units were dispatched to the area of Jefferson St. and Howell Rd. for an unknown accident. It was reported that there was a truck lying on its side near the pond, west of Jefferson St., at the bottom of the embankment. Officers found a silver sedan at the bottom of the large embankment, with the front half of the vehicle submerged in the pond and the driver’s door open. A scan of the water’s surface identified what was later discovered to be the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle.
As officers and deputies tried to gain cooperation of the victim and cajole him into coming to shore, he responded by swimming further into the pond. When the victim stopped, he began to display actions that were apparently meant to cause self-harm, so Sheriff’s Deputies Michael Graham and Lieutenant Steven Sopoc and Mason Police Officer Michael Pence entered the water. The victim was holding a long knife, which he dropped, but went under water to retrieve it. The deputies took that opportunity to pull the victim to the surface and the trio of lifesavers dragged him from the water. Deputies Robert Boerkoel and Kelsi Simison also assisted.
Medical attention was rendered at the scene. The victim was transported to a Lansing Hospital and held for psychological evaluation and treatment for exposure and minor injuries. The victim is also currently wanted by Mason police on a multiple-count felony and misdemeanor warrant.
SOURCE: PRESS RELEASE
