Ortonville- A crime spree ended in a hit and run serious injury accident June 25 and the arrest of a 19-year-old village man who is facing six felony charges.
Kenneth Scott Parker, 19, was arraigned on a 6-count felony warrant at 52-2 District Court. Charges include one count of unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle (SUV), a 5-year felony; one count of unlawful driving away of a motor vehicle (motorcycle), a 5-year felony; one count of reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function, a 5-year felony; one count of failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment or death, a 5-year felony; one count of larceny in a building, a 4-year felony; and one count of stealing a financial transaction device/retaining without consent, a 4-year felony. Parker was given a $25,000 cash bond, no 10 percent, and must wear a GPS tether at the time of his release on bond.
According to Oakland County Sheriff’s Office reports, Brandon deputies responded at about 5:40 a.m., June 25 to the area of S. Hadley Road and Iids Way for a report of a hit and run accident involving a stolen vehicle. Upon arrival, deputies found a gray Saturn with extreme damage facing northbound on the east side of the road. A gray BMW SUV with front end damage was facing east. A Brandon firefighter on scene advised that the 53-year-old woman entrapped in the Saturn was his mother-in-law. The woman was bleeding from the face and appeared to the deputy to be very injured. She stated that the other vehicle, driven by a white male, hit her. She did not have any other information and appeared very dazed. It took emergency responders approximately 25 minutes to extricate the victim from her vehicle. She was originally transported to Genesys Regional Medical Center where she was stabilized before being taken to William Beaumont Hospital where she was listed in stable condition.
At the scene of the crash, a witness told deputies he was driving north on S. Hadley Road when he observed a white male in his early 20s wearing shorts, a black backpack and no shirt walking south in the roadway. As the witness continued north on Hadley, he rounded a corner, observed the accident, stopped to help and called 9-1-1.
The investigation revealed that the stolen BMW was registered to a village resident. In a subsequent interview with the BMW owner’s wife, she said she last observed the BMW parked in the driveway at 10 p.m. and when she looked outside at around 5:40 a.m., the vehicle wasn’t there. At approximately 5:45 a.m., she observed a white male wearing black shorts, no shirt and carrying a backpack riding a bike past her residence. She notified her husband and he and their neighbor attempted to located the man without success. The BMW owner was advised of the location of his vehicle and were able to remove personal belongings. Several items were found in the vehicle that did not belong to him and were turned over to the Brandon substation detective.
Meanwhile, at about 7:17 a.m., a Brandon deputy responded to the 500 block of Mill Street for a report of breaking and entering. The complainant at this residence reported that overnight, someone stole a green Kawasaki motrocycle, a red Honda motorcycle, a blue specialized mountain bike, a red BMX mountain bike, and an orange Towine road bike.
Further investigation led police to Parker’s home on East Ridge in the Village of Ortonville. The suspect’s mother was at home and allowed police into the residence. Several stolen items were recovered at the home and police located other stolen items at various locations along Church Street.
Parker was located and taken to the Brandon substation to be interviewed. During the interview, which began shortly after 10 a.m., Parker stated that the day before he had taken prescription medication, smoked marijuana, and about 12:30 a.m., went ‘car hopping? which he said he does about once a month, then said he does about once a week. He said he drank two beers around 2 a.m.. He walked from his house and found a garage with the garage lights on. He saw many dirt bikes in the garage and he said he went into the garage and took a dirt bike and pushed it on to church property on Church Street, a place he often puts things until he can get them home. He then went and got the green bike and took to the church property and also took two bicycles. He then took the red bike to his house. He then returned to the garage from where he took the dirt bikes and decided to check a few cars. He found the BMW suv, which had keys in the cup holder. He started the BMW, went back to the garage from which he had taken the bikes, took a set of golf clubs, gas can and returnable bottles and put in the BMW and then drove east on Mill Street, which turns into Hummer Lake Road, then drove south on Hadley and in the first curve struck another car.
He stated he was, ‘going too fast for the turn, switched lanes and smoked that lady.? Parker estimated he was driving 40 mph. He then advised the other driver did nothing wrong and the accident was his fault. He began to cry and appeared upset. Parker said after the accident he got out of the car and approached the woman in the Saturn and could see she was badly injured and pinned by the dashboard. He said he couldn’t get the driver’s door open. He got the passenger door open and she asked him to push the seat back, but he couldn’t move the seat. He told her he called police, but he didn’t because he couldn’t find his cell phone and he didn’t want the police to arrest him so he ran south into the woods. He grabbed his backpack from the BMW before he left the scene. He took a bike from the front yard of a house on Kent and rode it to Granger Road, then north on M-15 to South Street and into town. He rode the bike to the church and exchanged it for the red bike he had stolen earlier.
He was questioned about numerous other items found and admitted stealing from various village residences. When asked why he committed the crimes, Parker said he owed his mother a couple thousand dollars for a car accident he was in; owe money to the school for a window he broke; and needed money because he doesn’t have a job. He stated he took the BMW because he wanted to return the returnable bottles, but was also going to show his friend what he had done. He had some minor cuts and bruises from the accident, but stated he was fine.
Parker was taken to the hospital for medical clearance and lodged at the Oakland County Jail.