SAGINAW, MI — Months after a Michigan State Police trooper was recorded repeatedly punching a Saginaw man in his face during a traffic stop-turned-arrest, it remains unclear if the trooper will face criminal charges.
While the trooper remains on suspension, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office tasked with deciding whether to charge him is remaining tight lipped on how, or when, things will proceed.
Saginaw resident Vance D. Martin, 47, on the afternoon of March 28 was pulled over by police on suspicion of drunken driving. Video footage recorded by civilians standing nearby showed MSP troopers and Saginaw police officers trying to get Martin, his wrists cuffed behind his back, into the back of a patrol vehicle.
As Martin resisted, one trooper delivered several punches to his face, causing a stunned Martin to briefly lose consciousness and tumble to the ground, the footage showed. The MSP’s Professional Standards Section conducted an investigation as the trooper was placed on paid administrative leave.
The Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office on April 26 received the investigation report, which it then forwarded to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, requesting a special prosecutor take the case. The AG’s Office accepted the case in early May.
Since then, the AG’s Office has said very little on the matter. Staff have not charged the trooper with criminal offenses, nor have they decided to clear him of wrongdoing.
On June 9, then-AG Press Secretary Lynsey Mukomel confirmed the matter was still under review within the office.
“Unfortunately I do not have a timeline to provide, but it’s with us,” Mukomel said. “I have no other information to share at this time.”
MLive sent a subsequent query to the AG’s Office on Aug. 11. To that, spokeswoman Amber McCann declined to divulge the matter’s status, saying no information could be released.
The trooper remains on paid leave, which would likely change to unpaid leave if charges are filed against him. A separate investigation to determine if the trooper violated any departmental policies will commence after the AG’s Office makes its decision, confirmed MSP Lt. Kimberly Vetter.
Police reports
Reports obtained by MLive from the MSP via the Freedom of Information Act state the ordeal began about 7:14 p.m. on March 28, when troopers noticed a red Pontiac Grand Am driven by Martin turn onto eastbound Annesley Street at a high rate of speed. Troopers’ radar indicated the Pontiac was going 46 mph in a 25-mph zone, their reports state.
Troopers pulled over the Pontiac in the 2300 block of Annesley Street after Martin failed to stop at two stop signs. Troopers wrote in their reports that Martin was uncooperative, failing to provide identification or step out of the Pontiac.
Martin eventually exited the car and troopers handcuffed his wrists behind his back. Troopers told Martin he was under arrest, but he then refused to be placed in the backseat of a patrol vehicle and tensed his body.
One trooper tried pushing Martin into the patrol vehicle, but his efforts were ineffective. More troopers and two Saginaw police officers responded to the scene. The troopers’ names are redacted in their reports.
Martin continued struggling against being arrested, to the point he struck the back of one trooper’s legs with his own, the troopers wrote.
“At that time, Trooper (redacted) delivered one straight punch to Martin’s face, which caused him to momentarily lose consciousness and fall to the ground,” the reports state.
Officers requested Mobile Medical Response to the scene to evaluate Martin. Upon paramedics’ arrival, Martin declined medical attention.
Troopers and officers then resumed trying to get Martin in a patrol vehicle, delivering knee-strikes to his legs and punches to his lower abdomen. Martin kept his body tense, though.
Troopers wrote Martin at one point put his right leg between a trooper’s legs and lightly struck his groin. The trooper then delivered four straight punches to Martin’s face, three of which connected, reports state.
Video footage recorded by civilian Keith Brookins and provided to MLive shows this second round of facial punches.
Martin again momentarily lost consciousness and fell to the ground. Troopers and officers were shortly thereafter able to pull and push Martin into a police car.
Martin was taken to Covenant HealthCare hospital for an evaluation and a blood draw. Police then lodged Martin at the Saginaw County Jail on five counts of assaulting, resisting or obstructing police and single counts of operating while intoxicated and having an open intoxicant in a vehicle. Martin was released from the jail the next afternoon without having been arraigned on any charges.
Analysis results of Martin’s blood sample were not included in the reports obtained by MLive.
Inside the Pontiac, police found a 12-ounce Michelob Ultra and a pint of Seagram’s vodka, both open, behind the driver’s seat, reports state.
A request for video footage recorded by two Saginaw police officers’ body-worn cameras was denied.
Martin has not been charged with any crime related to the events of March 28.
Read more:
Decision on whether to charge trooper who punched Saginaw man in face rests with Attorney General
Video footage shows handcuffed Saginaw man repeatedly punched by Michigan State Police trooper
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