MSP K-9 tracks crash suspect through miles of swamp

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A woman from northern Michigan is in police custody after being tracked by a Michigan State Police canine team for several miles.

State Police say the search started Friday afternoon after troopers were called to the scene of a crash in Manistee County. A driver had struck a bicyclist and fled the scene on foot.

At first, a 41-year-old woman from Traverse City claimed to be the driver before admitting to police that she was the passenger. The driver was a 35-year-old who had a warrant out for her arrest.

A canine team was called to the scene and established a perimeter, letting the K-9 Ox lead the search.

“The K-9 and his handler tracked the woman through approximately five miles of swamp and thick forest,” the MSP stated . “She was arrested when she exited the woods along a roadway to awaiting officers. She was arrested and lodged in the Manistee County Jail pending arraignment.”

Investigators at the scene say they found methamphetamine and a stun gun inside the suspect’s car.

The bicyclist, a 73-year-old woman from Thompsonville, was hospitalized for “non-life-threatening injuries.”

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