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GOBLES, MI -- A dash camera video shows an SUV on fire during a police chase before a Michigan State Police vehicle intentionally strikes the SUV to end the pursuit.
Anthony Blatz, 44, was arrested March 14 near the intersection of M-40 and 102nd Avenue a few miles north of Gobles after allegedly leading police on the pursuit, police have said.
He was wanted on warrants for failure to appear in court on two counts of theft in St. Joseph County, Indiana, and police were also looking to arrest him on a felony count of probation violation, the Michigan State Police has reported.
At the time of the pursuit, Blatz was on probation for a conviction of resisting and obstructing police officers in the Elkhart, Indiana, area and for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, MSP said previously.
Blatz faces two counts of fleeing a police officer third degree and a single count of failure to stop after a collision, court records show. He was arraigned on the charges March 15. A probable cause conference was held on March 28 and Blatz was bound over to circuit court on all the charges.
Blatz is the only person facing charges related to the incident, the Michigan State Police said on April 11.
He fled police in Indiana earlier Wednesday as they tried to arrest him for two counts of larceny and a probation violation, police said previously.
He was spotted in Lawton in a vehicle and a MSP trooper pursued the vehicle until the it crashed on M-40 near First Street in Paw Paw. The driver and his wife fled the vehicle and police could not locate them, police said.
Hours later, the suspect and his wife got a ride from two people in a car from Indiana, according to police, and that afternoon, troopers took notice of the other car because of its Indiana plates and stopped the vehicle during a traffic stop.
Blatz, a passenger in the vehicle, pushed the driver out of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat, fleing north on M-40, police said.
A dashcamera video obtained from the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office shows the SUV started on fire as it drove while police cars and sirens followed.
Van Buren County sheriff's deputies and troopers pursued the vehicle and used a MSP trooper used a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) maneuver to stop the flaming vehicle just inside Allegan County near 102nd Avenue.
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