10:58 AM Aug 15, 2011
Two Muskegon teens are in trouble with the law after they were observed brandishing an Airsoft gun at 5 p.m. Thursday near Beacon Boulevard and Taylor Avenue in Grand Haven.
3:01 PM Aug 13, 2011
A Grand Haven Township man was arrested Friday for the alleged sex assault of a 12-year-old Grand Haven resident. Adam James Hitsman, 21, was arraigned before Judge Richard Kloote in Ottawa County 58th District Court on Friday and charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bond was set at $7,000 cash surety and Hitsman was lodged in the Ottawa County Jail.
10:00 AM Aug 13, 2011
Motorists are being warned not to let their summertime fun end with a drunk driving arrest. Law enforcement agencies in 13 West Michigan counties will be cracking down on drunk drivers through additional patrols from Aug. 19 to Sept. 5. The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning is coordinating the crackdown by administering federal traffic safety funds to more than 200 agencies in 35 counties. Grant-funded counties in West Michigan are Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo and Van Buren.
8:58 PM Aug 12, 2011
Police said a Spring Lake Township homeowner woke up early Friday to find a stranger inside his home. Lt. Steve Kempker of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department said the incident occurred at about 5:45 a.m. on View Drive. The homeowner fled through an open window and ran to a neighbor's house, where police were called. Kempker said an investigation showed that the suspect entered the home by pushing through a screen in an open window. A police K-9 unit was called to track the suspect, but could not locate him.
6:00 PM Aug 12, 2011
Ace investigative work - and a sleeping suspect - aided southwestern Michigan authorities in their hunt for a man accused of stealing all-terrain vehicles from a Van Buren County homeowner's garage. Police said they arrested 26-year-old Ryan Finley of Stevensville sleeping on the ground against one of two stolen four-wheelers near the residence Wednesday morning. Officers said Finley told them he took a Valium and had no idea where he was, but denied stealing anything.
11:40 AM Aug 12, 2011
A 22-year-old Muskegon man suffered a collarbone and shoulder injury when he dumped his motorcycle at noon Thursday in Grand Haven. Derek Eek was driving his motorcycle west on Robbins Road and making a turn into the D&W plaza, when he apparently braked too hard and lost control, said Sgt. Randy Poel of the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety. Police officers already on the scene of a medical at nearby Robbinswood Living Center walked across the parking lot to help the injured Eek.
11:20 AM Aug 12, 2011
Authorities said a 38-year-old Amish man has died after being run over by a horse-drawn farm wagon that broke free in southwestern Michigan. The Kalamazoo Gazette and WTVB-AM reported Daniel Yoder of St. Joseph County's Nottawa Township was driving the wagon loaded with hay Thursday night when the yoke between the horses broke, part of the trailer gave way and the wagon rolled down a hill and off the road. Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department officials said Yoder was run over after falling off the wagon or trying to jump to safety.
11:17 AM Aug 12, 2011
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued four boys from rough Lake Michigan waters off the northwestern Lower Peninsula on Thursday afternoon. The boys were swimming at Frankfort Beach when they were swept hundreds of yards away from shore while clinging to an inner tube. A parent called 911, and a Coast Guard boat rescued the boys about a half-mile from land. The children weren't injured. Two of the boys were 9, one was 11 and one was 13. The beach is located about 30 miles southwest of Traverse City.
11:13 AM Aug 11, 2011
A 5-year-old Hudsonville boy remained in critical this morning at a Grand Rapids hospital after riding his bicycle into the path of a car on Wednesday evening. Evan Matthew Brown suffered serious head injuries in the accident, said Sgt. Keith Garvelink of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. The boy was not wearing a helmet.
10:47 AM Aug 11, 2011
Authorities have recovered the body of the second of two Detroit-area swimmers who were swept out into Lake Michigan off Saugatuck Dunes State Park. The Allegan County Sheriff's Department said the body of 22-year-old Brad Stoner of Livonia was recovered Wednesday night from the lake along Saugatuck Township. Police earlier said the body of Stoner's uncle, 46-year-old Daniel Reed of Redford, was found Wednesday afternoon.
11:20 AM Aug 10, 2011
Two women were injured when a semitrailer truck turned into the path of their southbound car on U.S. 31 in Olive Township shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Muskegon Heights resident Debra Phillips, 54, was driving a 1993 Cadillac that was hit by a 2006 Freightliner, which was turning west from the highway onto Tyler Street. A passenger in Phillips' car, Deqoya Todd, 19, was also injured. Both women were taken to Holland Hospital where they were treated and released, a hospital spokesperson said this morning.
10:45 AM Aug 10, 2011
A Clarksville woman was injured Tuesday evening when she turned her car into the path of a pickup truck towing a boat in Jamestown Township. Police said Ellie Veltman, 20, stopped her 1990 Pontiac Bonneville on westbound Riley Street at the stop sign at 32nd Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. Witnesses said she then attempted a turn onto 32nd Avenue and collided with a 1999 GMC truck pulling a 17-foot boat.
10:44 AM Aug 10, 2011
A southwestern Michigan man was convicted Tuesday in the shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and his cousin's wife, despite his story to police that one of the women shot the other in a jealous rage. Junior Lee Beebe, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Tonya Howarth, 36, and second-degree murder in the slaying of Amy Henslee, 30, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette. A Van Buren County Circuit Court jury delivered the verdict after about five hours of deliberations that began Friday.
10:42 AM Aug 10, 2011
Two women were injured when a semitrailer truck turned into the path of their car around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 31 at the intersection of Tyler Street. Muskegon Heights resident Debra Phillips, 54, was driving a 1993 Cadillac that was hit by a 2006 Freightliner in the intersection. Phillips is in stable condition at Holland Hospital. A passenger in Phillips' car, Deqoya Todd, 19, was also injured. Todd is in stable condition at Holland Hospital as well.
10:41 AM Aug 10, 2011
Rescue crews have suspended their search for two people missing in Lake Michigan near Saugatuck Dunes State Park. WZZM-TV reported a 46-year-old man and his 22-year-old nephew were in the water Tuesday afternoon. They had been swimming in about 50 yards from shore when they started struggling in a rip current. Searchers were using a helicopter and human chains to search in a grid pattern. Allegan County deputies said the conditions were dangerous, with waves of 6-8 feet and a strong undertow. Deputies said the men are presumed drowned.
7:21 AM Aug 10, 2011
The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking help from the public to identify those involved in the rescue of several swimmers from violent rip currents near the Holland State Park beach pier head on Aug. 3 by a Coast Guardsman, representatives from other agencies and local citizens. The Coast Guard is compiling information about the case and is seeking the identities of a male teenager and a female teenager who were rescued at about 2:45 p.m., as well as information from anyone who witnessed any of the rescues.
11:32 AM Aug 9, 2011
A Holton man charged with the July 30 armed robbery of The Reef convenience store in Ferrysburg has also been charged with holding up the Kountry Korners store in Fruitport Township on the same day. Lt. Jim Christiansen of the Muskegon County Sheriff's Department said that John Lee DeJong, 50, was being transported to Muskegon for a line-up on Wednesday, when he asked to see the detective, then "confessed to doing it.' The man was arraigned the same day on charges of armed robbery and being an habitual offender, fourth offense, Christiansen said.