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Larry Caruso/ Photo Editor
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A 22-year-old Woodhaven man fleeing police Tuesday morning jumped off the Wayne County bridge to Grosse Ile. As of yesterday afternoon, authorities said the man remained missing and was presumed dead. He allegedly had been stealing from vehicles.
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A 22-year-old Woodhaven man who jumped off the free bridge to Grosse Ile on Tuesday morning to escape police remained missing as of yesterday afternoon.
"He is presumed dead, but we still are investigating different areas in case ... he made it to shore somehow, but we have not come up with anything yet," Grosse Ile police Detective Lt. Joseph Porcarelli said.
After jumping in, the man went under the water and did not resurface.
To help search for the man, the Grosse Ile Fire Department, the Downriver Dive Team, the Coast Guard and the Wayne County Sheriff's Dive Team assisted.
The incidents leading up to his leap into the water began overnight Tuesday.
At that time, police officers suspected that he and another Woodhaven resident, 20, were stealing items out of vehicles.
The 20-year-old was found that morning and arrested. Numerous allegedly stolen items were taken out of the vehicle he was driving, and the vehicle was impounded, Porcarelli said.
The second man was not found until police were notified shortly after 5 a.m. that he was on foot near the free bridge.
An officer who went to the area found him near the bridge and ran after him to the bridge.
The officer ordered him to stop, which the man did. However, he did not comply with the officer's other commands, Porcarelli said.
Instead, the man pulled a knife out of pants pocket.
Negotiations then began to get the man to surrender peacefully, Porcarelli said.
"The individual apparently didn't have any intention of surrendering and leaped over the railing into the Trenton Channel," he said.
The officer got a life ring from his patrol vehicle and threw it. He tried to get it down to the man, who was starting to float downstream with the current, Porcarelli said.
At that point, the man slipped underwater and did not resurface. The rescue teams were then called.
The search went on for hours that day, and the investigation continues.
Because the man has not been found, police are not releasing his name.
The younger man has not yet been arraigned on any charges, so his name also has not been released.
As the investigation continues, Porcarelli said the men have been linked with past breaking-and-entering incidents as well as with the thefts from motor vehicles.
He said the investigation has led officers to believe that the men also might have been stealing items from vehicles in Woodhaven.
"It's getting to be a lengthy trail from just two individuals in one night," Porcarelli said.
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