Mich. Police Officer Injured When Suspect Rams Cruiser

A Warren police officer was injured after a suspect driving a stolen Jeep rammed his SUV on Eight Mile Road Saturday.

The officer, who was not identified by Warren police, sustained a fractured wrist and a concussion from the crash.

Warren police were dispatched to a home on MacArthur Boulevard Aug. 20 at approximately 4 p.m. regarding a subject in a blue Jeep who appeared to be having a medical emergency. They arrived and found one occupant in the Jeep, Samuel McCreary Wilber, 31, of Okemos.

Police said Wilbur appeared to be under the influence of narcotics and refused to exit the Jeep. He then fled from officers, weaving through the neighborhood streets near Eight Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue until he emerged on westbound Eight Mile Road.

Wilbur ended up traveling west in the eastbound lanes of Eight Mile Road near Sherwood Avenue. He veered back into the westbound lanes of the road where he appeared to intentionally ram into the passenger side of a fully-marked Warren police SUV.

Both vehicles sustained extensive damage.

"The intentional ramming of a police vehicle by the suspect shows the dangers officers face every day when working to protect the community," said Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer. "This suspect's reckless actions seriously injured an officer causing him to miss work. I have no doubt that, if there were another officer seated in the passenger seat of the police SUV, that officer would have been critically injured or killed due to the suspect's intentional actions."

Wilbur fled through several communities and was ultimately taken into custody without incident when his vehicle crashed on the front lawn of a residence in Detroit.

He sustained no injuries. The Jeep he was driving had been stolen earlier that day from a location in Lansing. Methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl were found in the vehicle.

The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office issued seven charges against Wilbur: assault with intent to do great bodily harm, a 10 year felony; fleeing and eluding a police officer, a 10 year felony; receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle, a five year felony; resisting and obstructing a police officer causing injury, a four year felony; possession of methamphetamine, a 10 year felony; possession of heroin, a 4 year felony; and operating without a license, a 90 day misdemeanor.

Wilbur was arraigned in 37th District Court Tuesday where a visiting judge issued a $250,000 cash surety bond. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Aug. 30 in front of Judge Michael Chupa. He has previous convictions for property crimes, theft and domestic violence.

"I want to commend all of the Warren patrol officers in this incident for working to arrest this violent and dangerous suspect before more harm could occur," said Dwyer. "This is yet another example of how Warren Police Officers work together to get violent and dangerous offenders off Warren streets."

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