GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Video launched by the Michigan State Police reveals a helicopter monitoring a motorcyclist who fled a visitors cease in Grand Rapids and tried to evade police by going off highway.
It occurred Friday evening. When an officer tried to conduct a visitors cease on Division Avenue, the motorcyclist fled “at a high rate of speed,” the Grand Rapids Police Division mentioned.
“One of the officers saw a motorcycle driving without his headlight after dark and speeding, so he flipped around went to pull the motorcycle over and it took off,” GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom advised Information 8 Tuesday.
The officer determined to not chase the motorcyclist out of concern for different automobiles and pedestrians, police mentioned.
“It’s very dangerous to pursue a motorcycle, not only for the driver, but for other people in traffic. And so our policy is unless it’s a very serious crime — a shooting something like that — we would not pursue,” Winstrom mentioned.
An MSP helicopter that was within the space adopted the motorcyclist as he fled, monitoring him as he turned southbound onto Buchanan Avenue from Burton Road, video launched by state police reveals.
The video reveals the motorcyclist briefly driving on the sidewalk, then going off highway and taking a path within the Plaster Creek space. Troopers within the helicopter continued to trace him, giving real-time info to police on the bottom.
The realm close to Plaster Creek the place the suspect bike went off the highway and onto a path within the woods. (March 18, 2025)
“Now he’s running with the bike back westbound on that trail,” a trooper reported. “And he’s up and rolling again. He’s going to be coming back out to where he turned in.”
Because the motorcyclist exited the path and returned to the highway, he crashed into the facet of an uninvolved automobile, in accordance with MSP. Then, he received up and took off on foot, the video reveals.
“He just hit the side of a car. Now he’s running eastbound, running eastbound,” a trooper mentioned from the helicopter. “He just tripped. He’s laying down about 30 yards off the road — and back up and running eastbound again.”
From the helicopter, state police continued to trace the motorcyclist, who saved operating after which, as police approached on foot, lay down on the bottom. He was taken into custody.
Video launched by the Michigan State Police reveals a motorcyclist being taken into custody on March 14, 2025.
“Excellent job to the pilots in our Bird in Blue!” MSP wrote in a social media publish.
Winstrom mentioned the helicopter was essential to stopping the driving force from getting away.
“That’s fairly new in our profession to have that available, at least available so often and really a game changer in lessening the amount of high-speed pursuits,” he mentioned.
