Man Who Ran From Police After Fingerprint Request Enters Plea
November 15, 2017
A plea has been entered by a man who fled from authorities and sparked a police search in the Brighton area, following a seemingly nonsensical chain of events.
28-year-old Robert Edward Culbertson of Fenton had a suspended license when he drove to the Michigan State Police Brighton Post on August 8th and asked to be fingerprinted. He was told he would have to make an appointment, to which Culbertson responded the order for his fingerprints was in relation to a suspended driver’s license. After reportedly becoming agitated and leaving, a desk sergeant noticed Culbertson walking toward a motorcycle parked nearby. When the sergeant confronted him about his license status, Culbertson took off on foot, eventually running across Spencer Road and then all six lanes of I-96.
The incident prompted a police search of the area that involved a helicopter and K-9 unit, though efforts to find him at that time were unsuccessful. Culbertson turned himself in a few days later. He was charged with a second offense of driving while license suspended and resisting/obstructing police causing injury.
Culbertson pleaded guilty to attempting resisting and obstructing a police officer in Circuit Court Monday. The original charges were dismissed in exchange for that plea, according to Livingston County Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt. Culbertson faces a penalty of up to one year in jail at his sentencing December 14th. (DK)