Driver bound over for fleeing police, crashing into house, car

A driver who was being stopped by Belleville police because he had no tail lights the night of Sept. 14, ended up fleeing police, smashing into a home on East Huron River Drive and smashing into a car next door, before running away on foot and finally being caught hiding under a car on Roland Street.
On Nov. 16, a preliminary exam was held by 34th District Court Judge Lisa Martin for Devon Leontae Sutton, 24, of Las Vegas, NV. Judge Martin heard the testimony and then bound Sutton over to circuit court on all charges for a Nov. 23 arraignment on the information.
Sutton had been charged with two felonies, fleeing police in a vehicle – third degree and assaulting/resisting/ obstructing a police officer, along with a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Bryn Bailey presented one witness: Belleville Police Officer Chad Adam, who has been with the city police for two and a half years and with Royal Oak for less than a year before that.
He testified he was on solo patrol that night when he saw a Mazda Tribute with no tail lights on East Columbia Avenue near Madelon Street and he “ran LEIN.” He said there was no tail light on the right or left sides, but there was a high mounted stop bar at the top that was lighted. He said he attempted to stop the silver SUV, but the car turned on Madelon at a very slow speed of 5 mph and then accelerated to 44 in the 25-mph zone. He said he called dispatch to tell them where he was and that he was making a stop, turned on his lights and siren, and saw the car go through multiple stop signs without stopping.
He said two Van Buren units – Officer Kurtis Mowbray and another officer — and Belleville Cpl. Matt Vandeweghe came to help. He said the Mazda struck the rear brick of the east side of a house, its backyard, at a residence at 180 E. Huron River Dr. Then the vehicle struck a parked Ford Fusion at a residence behind 180 E. Huron River Dr.
Officer Adam said the driver’s door popped open so he thought the driver was going to “foot bail” and he did. He tried to use a taser but the driver eluded that and ran into a wooded area.
He said Cpl. Vandeweghe was on Madelon and the two Van Buren officers set up a perimeter. The owner of the vehicle that was struck came out to talk to the police and, “I heard a tree branch snap.”
He testified he saw the defendant 100 feet away on Roland Street. Officer Adam said he did a foot pursuit and called to him to stop. He said Sutton ran up a driveway at 225 Roland St. and he found him under the front bumper of a vehicle in the driveway.
Officer Adam said he held him at gunpoint and, “We helped him out.”
Officer Adam said Sutton stated, “I’m done running.” Sutton also said he ran because he had a warrant, Officer Adam testified.
Officer Adam said Sutton ran right out of his slides and had no footware.
Defense attorney Vanessa Hamilton asked Judge Martin to reduce her client’s bond of $100,000/10% since he has been in the Wayne County Jail since early October and it is very taxing on him. (He has been incarcerated since his arrest on Sept. 14.)
Although his home is in Las Vegas, Sutton told Judge Martin that he has family in the Ypsilanti area.
Prosecutor Bailey said he had a hotel room key who shows no established residence and his doesn’t have a Michigan history. She said there is a hold from the federal government and the federal government wants him. She said Sutton was attempting to avoid federal government extradition. At the probable cause conference the federal district was identified as the South District of California for failure to comply with probation.
Judge Martin said that $100,000 did seem high, but then Bailey said his record shows he had two prior convictions, with one being sex trafficking of minors, plus four assaultive charges in 2003. He was on supervised release. He was charged with obstruction of a police officer in 2007 and failure to appear in 2009, Bailey said.
Judge Martin denied the request to modify bond and told Hamilton she could seek that at circuit court.