Mark Hackel
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel is still a sheriff at heart.
The ex-lawman saw a driver ahead of him swerve repeatedly Wednesday night, then smash into a minivan and speed off. He gave pursuit as a civilian in a sports jacket and driving a Ford Explorer, reports Bill Laitner of the Detroit Free Press:
Hackel tailed the black pickup in a five-mile chase Wednesday night that ended with the hit-and-run driver's arrest for drunken driving -- but only after the scofflaw pulled into a parking lot in an apparent bid to evade his pursuer, recognized Hackel and asked for mercy.
Sorry. Macomb's ex-top cop would have none of that.
"I get out of my car and walk over there, still on the phone with 911, and he gets out of his truck and stares at me, and I guess he recognizes me. He says, 'Hi Mark.' And then he starts appealing to me -- 'This never happened; let's pretend like this never happened.' I said no way, no possible way.
"I looked at his body language and I could tell he wasn't a threat. You learn this in police work. You don't want them jumping back in and trying to drive off. But he was cooperative. . . . Had on jeans and a dress shirt — a guy in his late 30s, I'd guess. Clean cut, nice vehicle. But obviously, the front end was a wreck.
Deputies arrived and arrested the man, who blew a 0.25 -- far above the legal blood alcohol limit of 0.08, the Freep reports.