Police

Michigan State Police raided two locations in St. Joseph County and another in Cass County earlier this month, recovering more than $300,000 in stolen vehicles and trailers. Investigators obtained search warrants after several months of investigation. Two properties were searched Dec. 6 in the 51000 block of Lang Road in Park Township. Also, a single property was searched in the …

Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a two-vehicle crash that occurred last week in the White Pigeon area. Law-enforcement officials responded Friday afternoon to U.S. 131 and Dickinson Road. Authorities said the driver of the semi, a 52-year-old man from Jackson County, was traveling north on U.S. 131 when he lost control of his vehicle. It crossed the centerline and …

Western Michigan University alerted students to use caution Sunday following a shooting near the campus. The university issued an advisory around 4:45 a.m. to exercise caution in the area shortly after the shooting. Police found a 28-year-old Lansing resident with a gunshot wound to a shoulder after responding to a 4:20 a.m. report of shots fired. Police said the wound …

A judge rejected a plea agreement Monday for a woman accused of helping her boyfriend set fire to several northern Indiana barns, citing her plea deal’s lack of prison time. Sherry Thomas, 33, of Nappanee had reached a plea agreement that includes an admission to one felony count of arson in the string of eight barn burnings. Thomas was charged …

A man who pleaded guilty to torching several barns last year in a northern Indiana county was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison followed by decades on probation. An Elkhart County judge sentenced Joseph Hershberger to 96 years, but suspended nearly half of that sentence, ordering Hershberger to serve 46 years on probation following his release. He must also pay $80,000 …

St. Joseph County District Court officials said Jiminez Lopez, age 24, has been arraigned after he allegedly drove a vehicle into the rear of a car that killed a 6-month-old boy Nov. 1 in Mendon Township. Lopez is charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing death, driving with a suspended license and operating under the …

Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a single-vehicle, roll-over crash last week in Fawn River Township. The incident occurred around 11:30 Friday morning on Franks Avenue, south of Ivanhoe Street. Investigators said a 2006 Ford F-150 was traveling north on Franks Avenue when the driver, a 16-year-old boy from Sturgis, lost control. The vehicle went off the road and rolled …

A 50-year-old Indiana man was injured in a one-vehicle crash over the weekend in Cass County’s Jefferson Township. Sheriff Richard Behnke said deputies were called shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday to the area of M-60 and Stone Lake Drive on the south side of Cassopolis. Investigators said a car driven by Michael Douglas II, a South Bend resident, was heading …

Authorities on Monday announced an arrest in the unsolved murders of two teenage girls — a drugstore worker who has been living in the same small northern Indiana community where their bodies were found after they went on a hike nearly six years ago. Richard Matthew Allen, 50, was arrested Friday on two murder counts in the killings of Liberty German, 14, …

A 13-year-old Sturgis-area resident was struck by a car while waiting for a school bus early Monday in Fawn River Township. Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said deputies were called shortly before 7 a.m. to the area of Fawn River Road and Big Hill Road in response to a vehicle vs. pedestrian personal-injury collision. The driver was identified as a 16-year-old Sturgis …