Man who flipped car over in Belleville arrested in Livonia

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Michael Kauffman of Westland, the 30-year-old driver who smashed into a parked vehicle and flipped a car upside down on Belleville’s Main Street on May 28, has been arrested in Livonia and is also wanted on unrelated charges in Redford.
Belleville Police Chief Hal Berriman said the car that flipped over on Main Street was rented from Enterprise by an 82-year-old woman who wanted to help Kauffman.
She had known Kauffman for a while and felt sorry for him. She tried to help him, but then he wouldn’t give the car back and so it was reported stolen.
Kauffman escaped from the Belleville crash and made his way to Michigan Avenue and eventually to Livonia. He went to an elderly woman’s home and was attempting to scam her, too, said Chief Berriman.
The woman’s daughter ran across the street to tell the police officer who lives there what was happening and the police officer summoned officers, who arrested Kauffman.
Chief Berriman said both Livonia and Redford have charges against Kauffman and so Belleville probably won’t prosecute anything to do with the rollover.