Police: Chase that injured teen was second of night for suspected car thieves

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The police chase that critically injured a 17-year-old in Kent County last month was the second pursuit of the night involving the same group of suspected car thieves, police say.

Dashcam video and police dispatches obtained by Target 8 through the Freedom of Information Act show officers in Holland chased two stolen cars, hitting speeds up to 120 mph, less than an hour before the Kent County crash that injured Riley Doggett 28 miles away.

Attorney Ven Johnson, hired by the Doggett family, said the teen, who was struck by a Kent County patrol car while running away, remains in a coma and isn’t expected to survive.

Police said Doggett was part of a group that drove to Holland in a stolen Range Rover on April 8, then swiped a Nissan in the parking lot of the MVP in Holland.

The Range Rover had a dealer plate registered to a car lot in Cedar Springs.

An off-duty officer spotted them and reported it.

“I’m chasing two cars 24th and Waverly,” the first responding officer radioed to a dispatcher.

The stolen Nissan and Range Rover were flying in tandem through Holland.

“Still eastbound, high rates of speed. They blew the red light here,” the officer reported.

Then onto I-196 toward Grand Rapids, hitting 120 mph as it crossed the 88th Avenue overpass, then passing a semi on the right shoulder.

Spike strips failed.

This went on for 11 minutes and stretched 20 miles before police lost sight of the car just shy of the Kent County Line and terminated the chase. Ottawa County notified the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.

Less than half an hour later, Kent County deputies say they were trying to stop the Range Rover when it ran off the road and crashed into a used car lot near 32nd Street and South Division Avenue. They arrested the driver.

Surveillance video from a nearby business shows someone jumping from the moving Range Rover.

Doggett’s family has said he was the passenger and was hit by the cruiser minutes later. There’s no indication he was armed.

“Clearly my client wasn’t just nicked, he was creamed by a car,” said Johnson, the family’s attorney.

“People want to go, especially white America, ‘Well, if they run away, then they deserve what they got.’ No, under the law, you can’t kill somebody for running away, ladies and gentlemen. That’s not the law.”

The Kent County Sheriff’s Office has said Doggett was “unintentionally struck” and that it was “a direct result of the inherent risk accompanying the serious criminal activity that Riley was engaged in during the weeks and months leading up to this incident.”

“This is what the police always engage in when they hurt or kill somebody,” the family’s attorney said. “It’s always the other person’s fault that the officer utilized deadly force.”

Johnson called on the sheriff to release dashcam video.

“Why are you holding on to this? All it does is it rises the level of suspicion that something else is going on. That’s called a cover-up, let’s be honest.”

In a text message, Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said the deputy remains on leave while the Michigan State Police investigate.

As for Doggett, the attorney said he remains in a coma, with his mom holding vigil at his hospital bedside.

“Apparently, the doctors have recommended to Mom to remove life support,” he said. “This is an incredibly difficult decision for anybody, but especially the mother of a boy.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.