Dog helps save elderly owner who fell through the ice: 'Better give the dog a ribeye'



A 65-year-old man walking his dog across a frozen lake Thursday in East Bay Township, Michigan, fell through the ice and into the frigid depths below. Shoreside witnesses called 911, prompting a rapid response by Michigan State Police officer Kammeron Bennetts.

While quick to the scene, Bennetts, 30, still had to figure out how to mount a rescue without similarly ending up trapped on the wrong side of the lake. Fortunately, the waterlogged man's Brittany bird-hunting dog was more than willing to help.

Bodycam footage shows a bystander point out a dog-shadowed gap on Arbutus Lake where the Traverse City man went under. The officer grabs a rescue disc from his cruiser, fastens a rope to it, then heads out onto the ice.

Although able to venture roughly 40 feet away from shore, Bennetts nevertheless falls short of the man's position due to his uncertainty about the solidity of the ice ahead. The officer tosses the rescue disc to the man. While unsuccessful, the initial attempt excites the dog, giving Bennetts an idea.

"You revert to the tools in front of you. I only had a dog in front of me, so use the dog," Bennetts later told People. "I saw she was ready to go to work."

"Send your pup here. Will she come to me?" Bennetts can be heard yelling to the man steeped in freezing water.

The man indicates the dog's name is Ruby.

"Ruby, come here! Come here, Ruby!" yells the officer.

After some whistling and another summons, the dog comes bolting over to Bennetts.

"Will she get ahold of this?" asks the officer, coiling the rope. Ruby quickly indicates she's ready to do that and more.

After fastening the disc and rope to Ruby's collar, Bennetts yells, "Call her! Call her!"

Bennetts, who has been on the force for two years, later indicated, "Within a minute your dexterity in your fingers goes, you lose speech, you lose everything."

Although ultimately in the water for 16 minutes, the Traverse City man nevertheless manages to call Ruby. The dog brings the disc over to her master. With a direct line to the man, Bennetts tells him to take the disc and begin kicking his legs.

The MSP officer begins pulling the man to shore with Ruby providing emotional support. A firefighter from Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department soon leaps into action, joining Bennetts in the rescue.

After the incident, the officer suggested to the Traverse City man, "You better give the dog a ribeye."

According to the MSP, the man was transported by ambulance to Munson Medical Center and later released.

The MSP Seventh District stated on X, "Great team work and well done!"

The MSP Sixth District noted, "What a good girl!!! ... Creative thinking helped save a life!!!"

— (@)

Michigan State Police Lt. Derrick Carroll told People, "Everyone is impressed by [Bennetts'] ability to take control of the situation and his ability to think outside the box to rescue the man in such a timely manner."

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Video: 10-year-old allegedly steals SUV to visit mother, leads police on swerving interstate chase



Police apprehended a 10-year-old boy who allegedly stole an SUV and led officers on a chase down a Michigan interstate, MLive and Michigan State Police reported.

The Buick Encore driven by the child was stolen from a residence on Hess Avenue in Buena Vista, Michigan, state police from the bay region's third district said in a release on social media.

The boy, who had apparently been staying with relatives, had hoped to go to visit his mother over Memorial Day weekend, police told MLive. Buena Vista is only about eight miles from Detroit.

Police say Saginaw County Central Dispatch received a call from OnStar that the stolen vehicle was heading south on Interstate 75.

OnStar is a subscription-based service for vehicles that, among other features, allows remote access to a vehicle, including bringing it to a stop.

Troopers located the SUV near the Birch Run exit. When they attempted to stop the driver, however, the driver did not comply.

The Trooper drove behind the juvenile for about a mile with lights and sirens activated while the vehicle was being disabled remotely.

The silent, 31-second video provided by MSP's Third District shows the car swerving from lane to lane with its hazard lights flashing. The video was captured on the troopers' dash cam.

Fortunately, through OnStar, the vehicle eventually came safely to a stop after grazing a guardrail along the interstate.

The caper did not end there, however. After the car came to a stop, the boy climbed over to the passenger side of the car and took off on foot into some nearby woods. He did not get far, though, before troopers caught up with him.

Authorities say no one was injured in the potentially deadly incident.

The boy was taken to Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center but was no longer in custody there as of Monday, MLive reported.

The boy faces several counts, including unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle, fourth-degree fleeing and eluding police, and assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police, the outlet also reported.

Watch the video from Michigan State Police Bay Region's Third District of a chase down Interstate 75 involving a 10-year-old boy in an allegedly stolen 2017 silver Buick Encore.

\u201cThe Trooper was behind the suspect for about a mile with lights & sirens activated while OnStar disabled the Buick, allowing for a safe stop. Thankfully, nobody was injured in this incident. Note: there is no sound in this video.\u201d
— MSP Third District (@MSP Third District) 1685630760

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Cowboy on horseback wrangles runaway cow on busy Michigan highway



A Michigan cowboy came to the rescue last weekend after a runaway cow escaped from a gravel pit and threatened drivers speeding down a busy highway.

It was almost three hours past high noon on Sunday when Michigan State Police said they received an unexpected call. The day was not especially hot or particularly dusty, and there was not a single tumbleweed to be found. But there was still danger afoot as a cow, which had escaped from an abandoned farm six weeks ago, was spotted in a gravel pit in Holly, Michigan, about an hour northwest of Detroit.

The male bovine, later identified as Lester, soon freed himself from the gravel pit and headed toward I-75, a busy interstate that extends from Michigan's Upper Peninsula all the way down to Florida. With John Wayne long gone and Clint Eastwood far from town, MSP troopers had to round up an usual posse, which included professional cow catchers Ricky Littlejohn and his fiancée, Trina Resendez, who live about 100 miles away.

"They called me and were like, 'Hey, is there any way you can help?'" Littlejohn recalled. "I was a little nervous about going because it’s super dangerous to be on the highway and whatnot."

But when duty calls, a true cowboy answers, and Littlejohn, Resendez, other assistants, and members of law enforcement strategically placed themselves to try and steer the rogue steer away from the road. For several minutes, the suspect refused to cooperate and eventually "managed to outsmart its advisories" and made a daring move toward the highway, even as motorists traveling at speeds of more than 70 mph whizzed nearby.

A trooper used his vehicle to block traffic as Littlejohn and his trusty ride, Bucky, charged after Lester. Armed with a lasso and years of cow-chasing experience, Littlejohn got hold of Lester and brought him to a halt on the grassy median, while an officer on a four-wheeler cut off the escape route. Though Lester made one last attempt at freedom, Littlejohn ultimately held him by the rope and saved the day.

Littlejohn made it all look easy, but I-75 posed some unique challenges to the seasoned wrangler. "When we started running across there, we got shoes on all of our horses and stuff, and it’s like a skating rink when you are running across there," he said. "So we had to be really careful we didn’t wipe out ourselves and keep everybody safe while we got the job done."

"The bovine was not charged," MSP joked in a Twitter thread, "and is back in the pasture with a story to tell all the other livestock."

Watch the video below and be sure to have the volume on:

\u201cAnd we know that if there are no pictures or video it didn\u2019t happen\u2026.\u201d
— MSP Second District (@MSP Second District) 1684765940

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Michigan State Police releases footage of gunman's efforts to shoot down police helicopter, final moments



A 33-year-old Michigan man could have ended up with a fine or jail time for pointing a laser at a police helicopter. For having swapped out the laser for a rifle, he ended up dead.

The gunman recently moved into a derelict home on Terry Street, north of Detroit's downtown. He can be seen in newly released footage peering out a second-floor window just before 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, pointing a laser at a police helicopter, which had been patrolling the neighborhood.

"If the pilot had been blinded and crashed into this neighborhood, it would have been a lot worse," 1st Lt. Mike Shaw, MSP, told WJBK. "Anybody that thinks that that’s a joke or you’re just trying to see what would happen, the potential there is bringing that aircraft down."

Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal crime (18 U.S. Code § 39A) carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

According to the Michigan State Police, officers in the airborne unit notified Detroit Regional Communication Center that they were being hit by a green laser.

The man quickly swapped out the laser for bullets and made made his way outside.

"Now there’s somebody standing at the back door. Right now, they’re in the backyard,” the pilot said. “He actually might — he might be armed. He almost looks like he’s holding a long gun pointed at us right now. Yeah, he’s shooting at us right now. He’s firing rounds. He’s got a long gun, extended magazine."

The gunman fired at the helicopter multiple times. Hot shell casings and muzzle flashes appear pronounced in the police footage owing to the helicopter camera's thermal imaging.

The gunman then retreated inside and reportedly resumed firing at police from the second floor of the house.

Troopers from Metro South post responded, approaching the residence on foot, said police. The suspect reportedly turned his fire on them, but the troopers proved to be the better shots.

Neither the troopers nor the helicopter were hit in the incident. The suspect's apparent last stand was final.

Shaw said, "The suspect was hit and went down. We had our emergency support team show up, and went up to approach the house. There were concerns because he was still armed and was laying there."

KTXS reported that six firearms, including the one the suspect had used to fire on the police chopper, were found at the scene.

Shaw noted that they also found "ammunition stashes throughout the home as if it were set up for some type of ambush or security purposes or whatever."

MSP noted that the two troopers involved in the incident have nine and two years of service experience respectively, and both are presently on leave.

\u201cThere were no injuries to troopers or members of the public. Trooper Two (Helicopter) was not hit in the incident. Below is part of the video in the incident. It may be disturbing to some. 3/\u201d
— MSP Second District (@MSP Second District) 1674672667

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