A local man who crashed his car while intoxicated and then falsely told police another vehicle had hit him has been sentenced.

25-year-old Thomas Blackledge of Green Oak Township was recently sentenced by Chief Judge Miriam Cavanaugh to ten days in the Livingston County Jail and 18 months of probation. Blackledge previously pleaded guilty to a reduced count of resisting/obstructing or assaulting a police officer, operating while intoxicated and assault and battery. If he successfully completes probation, prosecutors have agreed to dismiss a count of indecent exposure.

Blackledge was charged as a result of the November 12th incident, which began when Green Oak Police responded to the scene of a car crash at Leman Road and M-36 around 4:45am. Officers found that the vehicle Blackledge was driving had gone off the roadway into a ditch, sustaining significant front end damage. Police Chief Jason Pless says Blackledge told officers another vehicle had crossed the centerline and hit him, but there was no evidence that was true.

After failing sobriety tests at the crash scene, Blackledge was taken to the St. Joseph Mercy Brighton Medical Center for a blood draw. Once there, however, Pless says he became belligerent and refused to have his blood drawn, resisting an officer and a nurse, and kicking a security officer attempting to assist. Pless says Blackledge also kept exposing himself and screaming obscenities. (DK)