Police Chase Of Suspected Drunk Driver Leads To Crash in Michigan

** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Police have released dashboard camera footage of their high-speed pursuit through the streets of Bay City. The footage shows a Michigan State Police trooper attempt to pull over a red 2008 Saturn Astra as it heads east on Salzburg Road toward Lafayette Bridge at about 10:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Astra briefly comes to a stop between South Erie and South Wenona streets, before abruptly taking off again. The Astra proceeds over the double-hump bridge as the trooper pursues and radios the situation to colleagues. Just before Broadway Avenue, the trooper attempts to pull alongside the fleeing car, only for the Astra to turn south down Marsac. As the Astra blows through numerous stop signs, dead leaves billowing out in its wake, the trooper radios that it is hitting speeds of 60 mph.

The Astra turns onto another side street and comes to a stop, but once again takes off. Over the next few minutes, more law enforcement officers join the chase as the Astra zig-zags down various South End neighborhood streets in a failed effort to shake his pursuers. The Astra nearly hits a parked van and darts through alleys, consistently ignoring stop signs. “He’s hit my car once already,” the trooper states at one point. When the chase moves onto northbound Broadway, the Astra’s driver’s side door repeatedly swings open. Just before the former Jamie’s Dairies location at 1023 Broadway St., the Astra veers to the left and the lead trooper crashes his patrol vehicle into its side.

Seconds later, the Astra’s driver exits the vehicle and flees east, then west. Two troopers attempt to nab him, but he sidesteps them. Off camera, troopers and a Bay County sheriff’s deputy catch the man and place him under arrest. Police identified the man as 34-year-old Quincy C. Almond. Troopers first attempted to pull him over after having received multiple calls of the Astra being driven recklessly as it headed east on U.S. 10 from northbound Interstate 75. The deputy and one trooper suffered knee pain as a result of the scrap, while the trooper who pursued Almond suffered neck pain, court records show. Almond had a small contusion above his left eye and minor swelling under his right eye, but refused medical treatment.

Once in police custody, Almond apologized for not stopping and took full responsibility for the incident, court records show. He added the Astra belonged to his girlfriend, who lives on Marsac and whom he was on his way to see. Almond told police he had consumed six 16-ounce beers earlier in the day. “He further stated that he was trying to jump from the car and lose the police but could not get a large enough lead,” police wrote in their report, contained in court files. At the Bay County Jail, Almond submitted to Breathalyzer tests. The results indicated his blood alcohol levels were at 0.23 and 0.24, court records show. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol content hits 0.08; a person is considered super drunk when the blood alcohol content reaches 0.17.

Almond is charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police and single counts of third-degree fleeing and eluding, second-offense operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle while license suspended, denied, or revoked. Almond’s criminal history increases the potential maximum penalty on the fleeing and eluding charge to seven and a half years, while the potential penalty on the assaulting and resisting charges is upped to four years. In May, Almond was convicted on a drunken driving charge. Before that, Almond in November 2005 was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Saginaw County. He is required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. Almond on Friday, Dec. 16, waived his right to a preliminary examination in Bay County District Court and was bound over to Circuit Court for trial, the date of which is yet to be set.

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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **