Police

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners last week approved contract changes to three sheriff’s department divisions. During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners agreed to the modifications starting in 2016 and impacting the department’s corrections, law-enforcement and command-officers divisions. Notable changes include a 2 percent raise in 2017 and again in 2018 in all three divisions, and a pension revision affecting employees …

A southwestern Michigan prosecutor says the police shooting of two heavily armed brothers was justified and the officers involved won’t be charged. Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting told reporters Friday the six officers were involved in a roughly 20-mile chase of Sean and Aaron Pelletier in May and “were met with defiance.” The Pelletiers were armed in a car and …

Murder suspect Marie Williams accepted a plea agreement Tuesday, a day after jury selection for her trial had started. Williams, a Burr Oak area resident, pled guilty to second-degree murder before Circuit Court Judge Paul Stutesman. By taking the deal, Williams avoids the chance of being convicted of first-degree murder and receiving a life sentence without parole. Williams was about …

A 24-year-old Indiana man was arrested in Cass County earlier this week after leading authorities on a pursuit that started in Indiana. State police said they became involved in the incident shortly after 1 a.m. Monday, when the suspect entered Mottville Township then continued into Cass County’s Porter Township. The suspect eventually crashed through a gate, drove onto private property …

A Marcellus man was cited for driving on a suspended license after the vehicle he was driving rolled onto its top last week in Mendon Township. Sheriff’s deputies said Leslie Moreland was driving south on Nottawa Road shortly before 4 p.m. Friday when an eastbound vehicle on Michigan Avenue failed to yield the right of way. Moreland was forced to …

A cat survived being shot with a crossbow and authorities are trying to find the person responsible. Laurie Sullivan tells the Battle Creek Enquirer she found the cat in Battle Creek with a crossbow arrow, known as a bolt, stuck through his neck. Sullivan, a former Battle Creek commissioner, says she was “mortified.” Benjamin Huelsbergen at Turner Veterinary Clinic removed …

The Michigan Supreme Court said Anthony and Marsha Springer, parents of the late Calista Springer, are entitled to a hearing in St. Joseph County Circuit Court to determine whether their attorney provided ineffective assistance in 2010. Springer was the 16-year-old Centreville girl who died in a 2008 house fire while chained to her bed. A jury subsequently convicted Anthony, 52, and …

Jury selection is set to begin today in St. Joseph County Circuit Court for the trial of Marie Audrey-Louise Williams. Williams is accused of shooting Dennis Brooks in the head as the two argued on Townline Road in Burr Oak Township in March 2014. Williams was arrested after telling police she shot Brooks. She has been held in the St. …

Patrol officers with the Sturgis Police Department will be outfitted with body-camera technology in the next two to three weeks. Sturgis city commissioners this week approved a five-year contract to purchase the hardware and data storage. Geoffrey Smith, director of public safety for the city of Sturgis, recommended the no-bid purchase, saying Arizona-based Taser International is the only firm that …

A commercial mower was reported stolen from a Park Township business. The report was filed Wednesday by representatives from GreenMark Equipment, but it is believed the John Deere zero-turn mower with a 48-inch deck was likely taken during Fair Week last month.