BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP/WOOD) — Authorities say a poker player who grabbed cash and fled from a Michigan casino was arrested after a freeway chase that reached speeds of nearly 100 mph.
The man was arrested Thursday night in Berrien County in southwestern Michigan following the theft earlier in the night at FireKeepers Casino near Battle Creek. Tribal police from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi pursued him onto eastbound Interstate 94.
Authorities say the man used an emergency turnaround to get into the westbound lanes and officers lost sight of him. Officers in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties also tried to stop the car before the drvier lost control, hitting a cable median barrier, according to Michigan State Police.
Troopers say the suspect, a 33-year-old man from Tampa, Florida, tried to run from the scnene but was stopped by authorities in a ditch on the side of the freeway.
He was taken to Lakeland Hospital for evaluation before being booked in the Berrien County jail on charges of fleeing and eluding, driving on a suspended license and resisting and obstructing police.
No officers were reportedly injured. The Nottawaseppi Huron Band operates the casino.