Belleville, Van Buren Police capture man who abducted Detroit woman

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Belleville and Van Buren Township Police worked together to arrest a Dearborn man who police believe abducted his girlfriend from her home in Detroit and drove her to Belleville.
Belleville Police Chief Gene Taylor said the driver of the vehicle had a traffic accident at Fifth and Main in Belleville just before 10 p.m. on Feb. 23 and took off running. His passenger told police she had been abducted from her home in Detroit.
The driver tried unsuccessfully to break into a residence in the 200 block of North Liberty and then kept running.
Belleville Officer Matthew Vandeweghe with the assistance of VBT Lt. Bart DeVos and Officer Pat Wehrman tracked him along the lake shoreline to an unoccupied apartment in the 100 block of North Liberty Street where he was hiding.
Belleville Police Sgt. Schrencengost took part in the case.
Mahdi Soueidan, 26, was arrested and arraigned by 34th District Court on charges of two unauthorized entries and leaving the scene of an accident. Then, the Detroit Domestic Violence unit came and picked him up from the VBT lockup on warrants for the abduction.
Fight at BHS
Chief Taylor also reported that there were three arrests for disorderly conduct at about 9 p.m. Monday following a fight at the district playoffs basketball game at Belleville High School.
Chief Taylor said the majority of the eight or nine people fighting were not from the Belleville area, according to the report. He said there were many students recording the fight with their cell phones.
Chief Taylor said the three arrested were ticketed and released from custody. Belleville lost the game, he added.