Driver Arrested After M-24 Chase from Lake Orion to Pontiac

A Pontiac man was arrested Nov. 25 after a police chase that started in Lake Orion and ended in Pontiac.

Dante Demarr Rush, 19, was charged Tuesday at 52/3 District Court in Rochester Hills before Magistrate Marie Soma on two counts; fleeing and eluding a police office and driving with a suspended license, second offense.  The first charge is a five-year felony, the second is a misdemeanor. Bond was set at $15,000 cash.

The incident began at 1:42 a.m. Monday when a Lake Orion Police officer on patrol saw a pickup truck southbound on M-24 traveling in a way that suggested drunk driving. When the officer attempted to pull the truck over, the driver fled.

Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh said the officer followed the truck into Auburn Hills and Pontiac, where it ran over a trash can which became wedged against the truck. As the truck slowed, the two people inside jumped out and fled on foot. The officer got a look at the driver, then ran down the moving truck. Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies responded with a tracking dog, and the driver was quickly caught.

“Vehicle chases are inherently dangerous,” Narsh said. “Serious felony charges are warranted. So we’re glad a high bond was set.”

Narsh said the driver was not intoxicated, as it turned out, but had an open felony warrant for failing to appear in circuit court for sentencing on a larceny conviction. “So he had reason in his mind to run.”

Rush was returned to the Oakland County Jail. He is scheduled for a pre-exam conference December 4 at 10 a.m. before Judge Julie Nicholson.