Man accused of stealing van, pointing gun, fleeing police
Cops chase suspect through casino parking lot and through red lights
A Grand Rapids man is accused of stealing a van in Mt. Pleasant and pointing a revolver at the vehicle’s owner four days later before leading police on a chase through the casino’s parking lot.
Richard Grass, 53, was charged Tuesday with stealing a 1999 white Econoline van from the parking lot of Olson Tire, E. Pickard St., on Jan. 11 and on Saturday pointing a stolen .44 revolver at the van’s owner after the owner approached the van in the parking lot of Meijer, 1015 E. Pickard St.
The van’s owner first reported that someone walked up to the parked van with the keys inside, got inside and drove off from the tire place at the intersection of Pickard and Mission streets. Four days later, the owner saw the van across the intersection in the Meijer parking lot, according to the criminal complaint.
He told police that shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday he walked up to the man driving it and asked, “Where did you get this vehicle,” at which point the man identified as Grass produced a black .44 Magnum revolver, which police identi
A Tribal police officer saw the van on South Leaton Road south of Pickard Road and tried to stop it, but the driver turned on Soaring Eagle Boulevard and led the officer on a chase.
fied as reported stolen Friday in Gratiot County.
The van’s owner told police he returned to his car and called 911, while the van’s driver went to the back of the van and subsequently drove out of the Meijer parking lot and headed east.
A Tribal police officer saw the van on South Leaton Road south of Pickard Road and tried to stop it, but the driver turned on Soaring Eagle Boulevard and led the officer on a chase through the casino’s parking lot to a service drive that feeds into Leaton.
Grass is accused of driving north on Leaton, through a red light at Soaring Eagle and accelerating as the van got closer to M-20. Police said that he drove through a red light at M-20 and Leaton and nearly crashed into several cars as he sped north, reaching speeds as high as 115 mph and frequently straying across the centerline.
The van blew through a four-way stop sign while turning right Beal City Road and crashed into two parked cars near Shepherd Road. The driver got out of the van with what police described as a black revolver in his left hand and fled across the backyard.
Police yelled, “Stop! Police! Get on the ground!” before tackling him near the tree line, according to one of the two criminal complaints in the case. Police reported that the .44 Magnum was cocked and loaded.
They also found three other guns in the van, all of which were reported stolen.
Grass was charged with unlawful driving away, a five-year felony; carrying a concealed weapon, a fiveyear felony; felonious assault, a four-year felony; third-degree fleeing and eluding police, a five-year felony; resisting arrest, a two-year felon; and driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor.
He is currently lodged in the Isabella County Jail. His next hearing is set for 1:15 p.m. Feb. 3, at which it will be determined whether sufficient evidence exists to send him to trial.