Police

Michigan State Police officials say preliminary numbers show a drop in traffic deaths statewide during the Memorial Day holiday weekend compared with last year. Officials say eight people died in six separate crashes between 6 p.m. last Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday. That compares with 20 deaths in 19 crashes during the same period last year. The numbers reflect deaths …

Cash and jewelry were among the items taken from a residence during a breaking-and-entering incident that occurred last week in White Pigeon Township. Troopers from Michigan State Police were called to the 14000 block of U.S. 12, where a residence was burglarized between 5 a.m. May 21 and 9:30 p.m. May 22. Access was gained through a front door that …

State troopers found a bicycle not far from the Three Rivers Walmart in Fabius Township. The bicycle is a 20-inch BMX-style in decent condition. It was found around 6:30 p.m. May 20 in a field southwest of U.S. 131 and Coon Hollow Road.

A former Three Rivers High School teacher who has pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor embezzlement, has repaid $17,000 in restitution, according to St. Joseph County court officials. Thirty-three-year-old Sara Freeman, a Burr Oak resident, made the restitution payment before a Friday deadline last week. County Prosecutor John McDonough had set the restitution amount and May 22 deadline …

Police say a 12-year-old child was playing with a shotgun at a Kalamazoo home when the weapon accidentally discharged, killing a 28-year-old family friend. Kalamazoo officers responded about 5:50 a.m. Friday following a report of the shooting, which happened while the child’s family slept. In a statement, police described the child as “mentally impaired.” The boy’s grandfather, Daniel Hummel, told …

St. Joseph County and Fabius Township are entering a long-term relationship regarding road and water law-enforcement coverage. Members of the county commission this week agreed to a plan in which the sheriff’s department will continue to provide police coverage. Instead of renewing the agreement annually, however, the pact will work on a five-year cycle. The 40-hour-a-week coverage costs Fabius Township …

Approval to fill two positions at the sheriff’s department and authorization to a change in employment status for three Juvenile Day Treatment Program monitors was issued by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners Tuesday. The action means the sheriff’s department can proceed with filling a full-time corrections officer spot and a full-time road patrol position. Also, the employment status …

A Three Rivers man faces seven counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct after he was bound over to circuit court last week. Cary Jones, 46, was charged following his alleged infractions at the Abracadabra Daycare facility in Three Rivers, where his girlfriend was the owner. Last week’s proceedings took place in St. Joseph County District Court, where five children between …

A former educator was sentenced Friday to 5- to 20 years in prison for the 2014 sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy who was also victimized five years earlier when the perpetrator was the boy’s fifth-grade teacher. Friday’s sentencing of David Wing, 60, of Three Rivers, caps allegations of inappropriate behavior with underage boys dating to 1997, when Wing was …

Police say a passenger in a vehicle who was shot to death by police following a chase in southwestern Michigan had been wanted on a warrant for trespassing. State police say 37-year-old Sean Michael Pelletier of Portage had a high-powered military-style rifle and was shot Thursday afternoon following a crash. Police say he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police …