Woman ticketed for accident

A White Pigeon woman was ticketed for being unable to stop within an assured distance following a two-vehicle accident Monday in Sturgis Township.

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department said Tambra Bryant, 48, was cited after she swerved to avoid striking the rear of a car that had slowed on westbound U.S. 12 in front of Lake Area Veterinary Clinic.

Bryant drove onto the north shoulder of the roadway and struck the side of a vehicle turning into the vet clinic. The second vehicle was driven by 61-year-old Julie Outlaw of Sherwood.

Bryant’s vehicle continued across the yard of the vet clinic, striking a bush and concrete sign, and continued into a field west of the business.

Poultry stolen

Thirty chickens and a duck were reported stolen from a Mendon Township residence earlier this week.

St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called Monday to the 23000 block of Portage Lake Road, where the victim told police the animals were taken late Sunday or early Monday.

The animals were about two months old and different varieties.

New fire truck for White Pigeon

Members of the White Pigeon Fire Department recently took delivery of a new truck.

The 2013 Rosenbauer pumper and rescue will be in service by early June. The truck must first be outfitted with rescue and firefighting equipment, Township Supervisor Don Gloy said.

The truck holds 1,000 gallons of water, but has the capability to pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute.

Gloy said the cost of the truck was $460,000 and was built with specifications and features designed by firefighters.

Federal appeals court rules

A federal appeals court ruled last week that a jury should decide whether the rights of a Sturgis resident were violated by officers from the Sturgis Police Department.

A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday rendered its opinion regarding the 2010 incident involving then-20-year-old Charles Smith over the theft of a phone charger from Walgreens in Sturgis.

Officers Damon Knapp and Mark Stonebrunner investigated the incident and allegedly used excessive force when attempting to arrest Smith at his residence. Attorneys for Smith claim their client’s head was slammed against a wall as officers handcuffed him, and he also sustained a wrist injury as a result of handcuffs being locked too tightly around his wrists.

Lawyers on behalf of the city indicated Smith was resisting arrest and the force was warranted in order to get him to comply with police. Smith was charged with third-degree retail fraud but he eventually pleaded to a lesser misdemeanor of disturbing the peace.

Man robbed and tortured

For the second time in less than 10 days, a 75-year-old Constantine man was forcibly restrained while his residence was burglarized.

Constantine Police Chief Jim Bedell said three men in the early morning hours of May 6 forced their way into a residence in the Whispering Pines neighborhood and tortured the man with second-degree burns on his legs and back. The suspects demanded to know the location of valuables inside his residence.

Two suspects had duct-taped the man to a chair April 28 and stolen a significant amount of cash and old coins, Bedell said.

In both cases, the suspects wore masks, gloves and had displayed handguns.

Two arrested

Two people were arrested over the weekend after they attempted to leave a Sturgis business without paying for more than $2,300 worth of merchandise.

Sturgis police said the two suspects shortly before midnight Sunday tried to leave the Wal-Mart store on South Centerville Road through a side door with a cart full of electronics and other high-priced items, police said.

Officers were called to the store by employees who noticed the suspects acting in a suspicious manner.

The suspects were taken to the St. Joseph County Jail. Information regarding their names, ages and residences was not included in a department media release.

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