Man accused of shooting at Warren police claims he was giving officer weapon

WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - A man who Warren police allege shot at officers while fleeing a traffic stop Monday said he was trying to give officers the gun.

"I was giving him the weapon, your honor. I'm not like that. My house just got broken into, my car just got broken into. I was trying to give it to the officer, just like ‘don’t kill me,'" Willie Lee Allen said.

Allen was in court Wednesday to be arraigned on third-degree fleeing a police officer, assaulting or resisting a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, operating with a suspended/revoked/denied license, and firearms charges.

Willie Allen

The assistant Macomb County prosecutor John Paul Hunt said charges could be amended to include assault with intent to murder after a lab determines that the gun was in fact fired.

"The Warren Police Department is sending the gun and the clothes to the lab. Should the lab find that the gun was dry fired or if it malfunctioned or if they find some gun casings then we would amend the charge upward to assault with intent to murder," he said.

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said Allen did shoot at officers while running from them on 8 Mile near Mound.

Read: Man with long criminal history accused of shooting at police while on bond

"I've seen the video, and it was clear that he fired at the officer," Dwyer said.

Allen received a $1 million bond.

Dwyer and prosecutors were determined to keep him behind bars because he was out on bond while awaiting a carjacking trial when this encounter happened.

An attorney familiar with the carjacking case said Allen was released because of Covid and put on house arrest. The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office argued he shouldn't have been out.