Crime & Safety
Former Sheriff Chases Down Drunk Driving Suspect
Mark Hackel says "instincts kicked in," chases driver for nearly five miles.
MACOMB COUNTY, MI – County executive Mark Hackel went into full-on sheriff mode when he witnessed a hit and run accident Wednesday evening in Macomb Township. Hackel was driving east on 24 Mile Road when he observed a black pickup truck swerve wildly, then plow into a minivan.
The pickup didn't stop after the crash, and Hackel's instincts kicked in. A sheriff and law enforcement officer before he became county executive, he dialed 911 and picked up chase.
“I saw the (pickup driver) swerving to the right and then cross left-of-center a couple times before (the collision)," Hackel told the Macomb Daily. "I thought, ‘Are they texting or whatever?’”
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Hackel, in his unmarked Ford Explorer, followed the truck for nearly five miles before catching up near a football field and coaxing the driver out of his truck.
"I get out of my car and walk over there, still on the phone with 911, and he gets out of his truck and stares at me, and I guess he recognizes me," Hackel told the Detroit Free Press. "He says, 'Hi Mark.' And then he starts appealing to me -- 'This never happened; let's pretend like this never happened.' I said no way, no possible way." The driver walked to the back of his truck, and Hackel reached in and took the keys, just as law enforcement arrived.
Find out what's happening in Clinton Townshipfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Police later identified the pickup driver as a 41-year-old Vito Agrusa from Shelby Township, the Macomb Daily reported. Agrusa, with a reported blood-alcohol level of .23 percent, nearly triple the legal standard for intoxication, was arraigned on charges of drunken driving and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. Two occupants of the minivan received minor injuries.
Hackel says this isn't the first time he's jumped in on the action since leaving his post as sheriff.
“I don’t even think twice about getting involved,” he said. “Only difference is I don’t have a lights and siren package to make stops. Thankfully having been a dispatcher, I know how well they are equipped the
handle 911 calls and direct the resources.”
Hackel started serving with the sheriff's department in 1981, and was sheriff from 2001-2010, resigning to begin his term as County Executive.
Photo via Macomb County
