CHIPPEWA COUNTY — A two-county car chase that reached speeds of 124 mph on I-75 ended without injuries and with the suspect in custody, according to Chippewa County Sheriff Mike Bitnar.
Bitnar said he was driving to the office on M-28 last Friday morning when he heard Sault City Police Department dispatchers report that Andrew Burnett was wanted for strong-arm robbery and stealing a car.
Minutes later, a pursuit began in Rudyard and continued south on I-75, covering several roads before ending on Bayshore Road in St. Ignace, a dead-end road.
Dispatch information indicated Burnett might have mental health issues and could have a firearm in the vehicle.
“It’s more than a regular pursuit because now you have a danger to himself and others if we were just able to stop the pursuit because of the speeds getting high,” Bitnar said. “What, somebody in that capacity, possibly armed with a firearm, what’s he going to do? We just couldn’t let him go.”
Burnett was arraigned in Chippewa County Court on Friday afternoon, though the court had not released details of the charges by the end of the day.