A crowd of students quickly gathered on the Diag after an Ann Arbor Police Department vehicle knocked over a lamppost while pursuing a fleeing suspect Thursday afternoon.
Officers on the scene confirmed the suspect was arrested, but would not say what crime they the individual was suspected of committing.
In an interview with the Daily, Lt. Matthew Lige from the Ann Arbor Police Department said the suspect who was apprehended was wanted in relation to a robbery. Patrol officers had seen the suspect on campus and attempted to interact with him before he fled, leading to a pursuit.
“This afternoon, just before 5:00, road officers spotted this third subject right downtown near the Diag,” he said. “So we had a third person of interest involved in that robbery, we had a felony warrant arrest for armed robbery, road patrol officers saw him on foot, they went out to go make contact with him and he immediately took off running towards campus.”
The police car knocked over the lamppost after swerving to avoid students on the footpaths in the Diag. University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security officers arrived on the scene later, blocking off an area near the base of the damaged lamppost, as there were potentially live wires exposed.
Lige said the suspect resisted arrest and the police officers involved sustained minor injuries, adding that the officers were concerned about the direction in which the suspect was headed.
“One of our concerns was when he took off running, he took off running on the Diag and we believed that his intent was to go in the (Hatcher) Graduate Library,” he said. “And obviously we did not want him to go in the Graduate Library for a number of reasons.”
DPSS spokeswoman Diane Brown referred all inquiries to AAPD, however, she confirmed in a statement AAPD apprehended a suspect and struck a light pole during the incident. Lige confirmed the damage to both the light pole and police car.
According to Lige, the suspect will be lodged in the Washtenaw County Jail.