Reports: Police watched group before teen hit by cruiser during chase
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — In the days before 17-year-old Riley Doggett was struck and injured by a patrol car while running from police, detectives were monitoring the group he was running with, Kent County sheriff’s reports show.
Doggett died last week, more than a month after the chase in a stolen Range Rover on April 8.
Teen dies weeks after being hit by deputy’s cruiser
In the reports provided by the attorney for Doggett’s family, Kent County sheriff’s deputies said the Range Rover had been involved in “multiple larcenies, stolen vehicles, stolen handguns and other multiple pursuits” in Kent and Ottawa counties.
“The subjects inside were also known to be armed with guns,” according to the reports.
Kent County detectives said they conducted a search warrant on April 5, three days before the chase. The reports show they recovered stolen gift cards, key fobs, AirPods and two handguns.
The Kent County deputy who hit Doggett with his patrol car had first spotted the stolen Range Rover minutes earlier at US-131 and 44th Street in Wyoming, according to the reports.
That was less than an hour after the same vehicle and a stolen Nissan were chased by Holland police — a pursuit that reached 120 mph and was terminated on I-196 near the Kent-Ottawa line.
Police: Chase that injured teen was second of night for suspected car thieves
The chase in Kent County, which reached speeds of 80 mph, ended when Doggett and his alleged accomplice jumped from the Range Rover, which crashed into parked cars at 32nd Street and S. Division Avenue in Wyoming.
Doggett, described by his family’s attorney as a passenger in the Range Rover, was running away when the deputy struck him with his cruiser.
A nearby body shop worker told police he saw the second suspect — identified as a 17-year-old from Grand Rapids Township — with a gun in his waistband and a hand on the gun as he ran past the shop. The suspect told him to not tell anybody, then jumped a fence. Police arrested him a short time later in a nearby backyard.
“There’s zero allegations anywhere that Riley had any weapons whatsoever,” said Ven Johnson, the attorney for Doggett’s family.
Police never found a gun.
“They were searching for hours after this, never found that gun. That’s because there wasn’t one,” Johnson said.
Family of teen hit by deputy: ‘No reason’ video isn’t out
The family’s attorney questions why the sheriff department refuses to release dashboard camera video.
“Yes, police can use limited force but it cannot be deadly force against him, and using a car is deadly force,” Johnson said. “It’s no different, under the law, than using a gun.”
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office has said Doggett was “unintentionally struck” and that it was “a direct result of the inherent risk accompanying the serious criminal activity that Riley was engaged in during the weeks and months leading up to this incident.”
Doggett’s 17-year-old accused accomplice is charged as a juvenile with fleeing a police officer, receiving and concealing the stolen Range Rover and resisting police.
The Michigan State Police are investigating the death and will turn over the case to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, which would decide on charges, if any. The prosecutor said he has not seen the state police reports.
Monday night, dozens of people gathered outside the Kent County Sheriff’s Office for Doggett, demanding the sheriff’s office release body camera video of the incident.
Doggett’s mother was there and said they haven’t told her anything. Samuel Sterling’s mother was also there, holding hands with Riley’s mom.
Sterling, who was running from police, was hit by an unmarked Michigan State Police SUV in Kentwood last month. He later died.
News 8 reached out to the sheriff’s office and a spokesperson said they don’t have anything to release as of Monday night.
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