DOWNTOWN OXFORD – A burglary suspect who police say fled the scene of the crime on a bicycle was stopped not by the officer chasing him on foot, but by the Jeep that hit him at the intersection of Washington and Burdick streets in the wee hours of May 13.

The suspect, a 38-year-old Oxford Township man, has been charged with breaking and entering – forcible entry, according to village Police Chief Mike Solwold. He’s accused of burglarizing the party store at 18 S. Washington St.

According to the police report, when the officer responded to a burglar alarm call at 3:32 a.m., he discovered the store’s front window had been broken and encountered the suspect walking out the door.

After the officer identified himself and told the man to show his hands, the suspect allegedly hopped on a bicycle that was laying on the ground and took off toward the Washington/Burdick intersection.

In his report, the officer said he pursued the suspect on foot while ordering him to stop “several times.”

When the suspect reached the intersection, the report stated he “went into the road without looking” and was struck by a 2018 Jeep driven by a 63-year-old Oxford woman. “(He) flipped off the bike, hitting the front of the vehicle and then the ground,” the officer wrote.

Once in custody, the officer searched him and reported finding two ice cream bars, two bottles of liquor (one of which had broken), two glass pipes, two bottles of soda, five lighters and three packs of cigars.

According to the report, the suspect told the officer he was suffering from withdrawal and “needed some’ liquor. He reportedly admitted he had been drinking and a preliminary breath test showed his blood alcohol level was 0.08 percent.

Oxford firefighters transported the suspect to McLaren Oakland hospital in Pontiac. He had complained that his left shoulder was hurting.