By Lania Rocha
Genesee County View
Grand Blanc Twp. — A suspect who was hospitalized Monday after crashing a stolen Porsche during a police pursuit had been arrested earlier this year in Grand Blanc Township.
Grand Blanc Township Police Chief Bill Renye said the suspect, who is in his 20s and from Detroit, lost control of the car when he attempted to avoid stop sticks that township officers had deployed.
The car, one of several reported stolen from Manheim Auto in Genesee Township, rolled several times, Renye said.
The crash occurred around 2:45 p.m. on southbound Interstate 75 just south of the Dixie Highway exit, near Groveland and Holly townships. State police closed the highway for several hours to investigate.
Renye said township police had information that new cars stolen from Flint area sales lots and overflow parking yards are being taken to the Detroit area.
“We were in the area, we attempted to deploy stop sticks,” the chief said in a video posted to social media. “That vehicle was traveling at an excessive rate of speed. That vehicle made an evasive maneuver to try to miss those stop sticks. The suspect lost control causing the Porsche to roll over several times.”
The driver, who remained in critical condition as of press time, had a previous arrest.
“We had caught this man early on in January,” Renye said in a phone interview. “He didn’t show up for court.”
Investigators didn’t realize it was the same man until they took his fingerprints at the hospital, he said.