By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Ortonville— On Sept. 20, a suspect on the run prompted Harvey-Swanson Elementary to go into a soft lock-down near the end of the school day.
“We had a home invasion that took place off of Bald Eagle Lake Road by a family member that stole two guns and a large amount of cash,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Brandon substation commander Lt. Greg Glover. “He was here, out on bond, from felony charges from California. He fled to Florida, and we found out he had come back to the family house that he stole from.”
Glover said the family was bringing him into the substation, supposedly to talk to police, and when they turned onto South Street, the suspect jumped out of the moving car and into a wooded area near Harvey-Swanson Elementary School.
“I put Harvey-Swanson on a lock-down while we had drones in the air, multiple police and a K9 officer,” he said. “Our K9 officer was tracking him with his dog, tracked him down, and he was taken into custody about 30 yards off the road near Harvey-Swanson.”
The suspect was lodged at Oakland County Jail pending being sent back to California for his felony charges.
“Because of the amount of police and the time of day, I made the decision to put the school on lock-down just for safety reasons in case we ended up in a foot chase or the dog ended up pursuing him,” he said. “I didn’t feel the need to put the middle school on lock-down, even though I had two unmarked cars in the parking lot just in case, but there was no real threat. We knew he wasn’t armed, and there wasn’t a danger. The kids were held 10-15 minutes past the end of the day, parents were very respectful.”