WATCH: Man flees Warren police, rams patrol vehicle before crashing stolen Jeep in Detroit
WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - An Okemos man is facing charges after police say he ran from officers and rammed a Warren patrol vehicle Saturday.
According to Warren police, officers responded to the area of 21432 MacArthur around 4 p.m. for a person possibly suffering a medical emergency in a blue Jeep. When they arrived, they found Samuel Wilbur, 31, inside the Jeep. Police said it appeared he was under the influence of narcotics.
Samuel Wilbur is accused of ramming a Warren patrol vehicle with a stolen Jeep.
Wilbur refused to get out of the vehicle then fled in the Jeep, police said. He drove to 8 Mile, where he drove west in the eastbound lanes instead of stopping. When he got back on the westbound side of the road, he intentionally rammed a patrol vehicle, police said.
Wild police chase includes suspect ramming officer cruiser before crashing
Samuel Wilbur refused to get out of the vehicle then fled in the Jeep, police said. He drove to 8 Mile, where he drove west in the eastbound lanes instead of stopping. When he got back on the westbound side of the road, he intentionally rammed a patrol vehicle, police said.
The officer in the patrol vehicle, who has been with the Warren Police Department for 1 ½ years and worked in Detroit for two years, suffered a concussion and a fractured left wrist.
(Photo: Warren Police)
Wilbur eventually crashed in a Detroit neighborhood. Police said he had methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, and the Jeep was stolen from Lansing. He was not injured, and was arrested without further incident after the crash.
Police said Wilbur has previous convictions for property crimes, theft, and domestic violence.
He is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation; second-degree fleeing/eluding a police officer; receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle; resisting/obstructing a police officer causing injury; possession of methamphetamine; possession of heroin, and operating without a license. He was given a $250,000 cash/surety bond.
"The intentional ramming of a police vehicle by the suspect shows the dangers officers face every day when working to protect the community. This suspect’s reckless actions seriously injured an officer causing him to miss work. I have no doubt that, if there were another officer seated in the passenger seat of the police SUV, that officer would have been critically injured or killed due to the suspect’s intentional actions," said Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer. "I want to commend all of the Warren Patrol Officers in this incident for working to arrest this violent and dangerous suspect before more harm could occur. This is yet another example of how Warren Police Officers work together to get violent and dangerous offenders off Warren streets."