LUDINGTON — A Northern Michigan man is behind bars for what the Mason County Prosecutor is calling an attempted unlawful touching of a high school student.
Ludington Police Captain, Mike Haveman said it happened Wednesday between 10:30 and 11 am, outside on the grounds of Ludington High School while students were outside for band practice.
“It could have had a more serious outcome. And it is scary. But again, luckily, we’re able to work together and to get this taken care of pretty quickly,” said Haveman.
Haveman said it’s a very rare case but luckily thanks to the quick thinking of the high school student involved-they were able to identify the suspect and track him down in hours.
“It’s pretty rare for that to happen here. In the 24 years that I’ve been working here, this is the only incident similar to this that I can recall,” said Haveman.
Haveman said the man called out to the student before approaching.
“The band was on the practice field practicing. One of the students that was sitting to the side of the field, was approached by a gentleman. The gentleman, then kind of approached the student and tried to like, wrap his arms around her while she was telling him she didn’t want that to happen,” said Haveman.
The student was able to push the man away and get away, but not before taking his picture.
“We’re really fortunate that the student was able to take photographs and kind of knew that what happened wasn’t right. And they were able to take a photograph of the suspect, which we’re able to use to identify them later, said Haveman.
He said it was bold of the man to do that with other students and adult staff about 50 feet away.
Haveman said the girl reported the incident to the school and their school resource officer notified law enforcement.
“As soon as we found out, we had all the officers that we could muster in the area, surround the schools and notify the neighboring schools of what happened and the description of the suspect,” said Haveman.
Ludington High School principal Steve Forsberg said they did not have to go into lock-down or change their protocols much with the extra police presence.
“The kids were inside from that point on, and we were keeping a close eye on everything as we investigated. So, we didn’t do anything drastic, but we just made sure everyone was safe,” said Forsberg.
Forsberg said parents were notified Wednesday of what happened in a joint letter from the school and police.
Forsberg said he’s proud of the student and it shows that the safety training they’ve been drilling into students is working.
“What we really preach to kids is, ‘hey, if something doesn’t feel right or seem right, you’ve got to let an adult know,” said Forsberg.
Police said he may have been spotted earlier in the day near Ludington Elementary, along the perimeter of the school’s forest but they are still investigating to determine if they are the same person,” said Haveman.
“When we were able to get the picture to the school staff at the elementary school, they identified him as possibly being somebody who was at the school yesterday at some point too,” said Haveman.
Haveman said the suspect was arrested at his Ludington home Wednesday night around 8 pm, after tips came in from the picture the student took that was shared on Facebook and the local media.
The suspect is currently at the Mason County Jail. He’s expected to be arraigned Friday.