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Management company mum on repairing damage to Pontiac complex caused by police pursuit

By and Jack Nissen
Published  December 29, 2023 6:59pm EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Management company leaves repair job incomplete at Pontiac complex

It's been a rough two weeks at the North Hill Farms Apartment Complex in Pontiac, where tenants have struggled to get their units back up and running after an officer struck the side of the building during a chase.

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - For some of the tenants at a Pontiac apartment complex, the Christmas season hasn't been an easy one.

A police pursuit ended with damage to the exterior wall at the North Hill Farms Apartment complex on Dec. 20. Some of the repairs were made, but according to one mother, not all of them.

"Yes, it gets cold and I have two kids that sleep in here, a baby and a 6-year-old and I can’t have neither one of them in here because it gets too cold," said Mary Daily.

Daily, a mother of four, lives on disability in the subsidized apartment. 

It currently doesn't have heat, thanks to the damage to the complex - just as temperatures are expected to fall toward more winter-like conditions.

The troubles began around 2 a.m. Dec. 20 when an Oakland County Sheriff was chasing a suspect in a vehicle. While some tenants said it was a police cruiser that struck the structure, the sheriff's office said the damage was caused by the suspect. 

Even the skidmarks from the pursuit are still visible on the ground.

In a statement issued after publishing, the sheriff's office said a deputy had spotted a vehicle matching the description of a reported traffic offense. After verifying it, the deputy chased the suspect.

"The fleeing vehicle veered right striking a brick column near apartment #59, then veered back left striking the front passenger side of the patrol car," the statement read. "After the collision with the patrol car, the fleeing vehicle lost control and crashed head-on into the same apartment building near apartment #57.  

"At that time three of the four occupants fled on foot and they were apprehended by OCSO deputies without further incident. At no time did any Oakland County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicles make contact with any of the apartment buildings"

The management company removed the person living in the unit that was struck. It also repaired the outside of Daily's unit, but not the inside.

FOX 2 reached out to the manager, who instead ignored attempts to get an answer before driving away. 

This story has been updated to include a statement from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.