Court Watching: Ayden Clark bound over to circuit court for methamphetamine

After a lengthy preliminary exam on Feb. 21 before 34th District Court Judge Lisa Martin, Ayden Tyeler Clark, 29, of Van Buren Township was bound over to circuit court on a charge of possession of methamphetamine on Dec. 30, 2021 in the city of Belleville.
His arraignment on the information was March 6 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice. A calendar conference was set for March 27.
First witness at the exam was Belleville Police Sgt. Todd Schrecengost who testified he was out on patrol alone at 2 a.m. when he saw a car with headlights on running while parked in the 300 block of Main Street with what appeared to be a person slumped over the wheel.
He said he went around the block and came up behind the car to check it out. He said the Impala had tinted windows, but he could see the individual was hunched over to the right and wasn’t moving. He said he knocked on the window and shined the flashlight inside through the side window and windshield but could get no response.
Sgt. Schrecengost said the city had had some drug overdoses over the past few years and he didn’t know if the individual was sleeping, intoxicated, or overdosed. He radioed two other officers on duty for backup and they came and one picked up a Slim Jim to open the driver’s door. They found a man in the driver’s seat in a hoodie sweatshirt, sleeping or unconscious.
Sgt. Schrecengost said he yelled “Hey, hey” and shook the man’s shoulder and he didn’t wake up so he testified that he suspected an overdose of some type. He said the man, later identified as defendant Clark, finally mumbled, “I’m good. Come on, honey.”
When he awoke in the cold night air, he was lethargic, disoriented, and confused, Sgt. Schrecengost said, adding it was 10 degrees that night. Sgt. Schrecengost testified he said to him, “It’s the police” and Clark replied, “Aw, shit.” He testified he got him out of the car and detained him in the back seat of his patrol car in handcuffs.
Clark’s car was searched because it was going to be towed and Sgt. Schrecengost said he watched Officer Chad Adam remove a jar of marijuana from an Ann Arbor dispensary and a small Tupperware container with a white crystalline substance inside, which Sgt. Schrecengost testified he believed to be methamphetamine.
The officers picked up a preliminary drug test kit from the police department and conveyed it to the scene and the substance registered methamphetamine.
The results of a test at the Michigan State Police lab later confirmed it to be methamphetamine.
Under cross-examination from defense attorney Parisa Sadrnia, Sgt. Schrecengost testified that when he was talking with the suspect, Clark told him he was extremely tired because he’d been through a lot and his mother was ill. “He was crying and he asked us not to arrest him,” Sgt. Schrecengost said, noting he didn’t want to lose his license because he’s a semi-driver for Pepsi-Cola.
Sgt. Schrecengost testified there was no smell of alcohol on his breath or person.
The defense attorney said her client said “no sir” when he was asked if police could search his vehicle. She played the body video and wanted to go on for 45 minutes, but Judge Martin said that was not appropriate since this is a preliminary exam set in half-hour blocks. It appeared there was consent for the search.
Officer Chad Adam was the second witness and, though there had been an order for those going to testify to leave the courtroom, he had remained in the courtroom with Officer in Charge Schrecengost. When this was pointed out, he was allowed to testify anyway.
Officer Adam said he searched the vehicle and found a marijuana smoking pipe, jar of marijuana, and a Tupperware container with crystalline content.
Prosecutor Mohamad Mohamad said the defendant kept hitting his head or forehead on the steering wheel.
Judge Martin said the people had met their burden and Clark was bound over to circuit court.