Chief Nabs First Suspect Booked at New Station

New Baltimore Police Chief Tim Wiley was going to move furniture in the one recent evening but wound up unloading a suspect instead.

Wiley said he was driving at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday from Macomb Community College, where he just finished teaching a criminal justice class, to the new police station on Green Street. Over the past several days, Wiley, staff members and a team of volunteers have been getting the in the newly following a move from the old Front Street station.

While en route, the chief got word someone fled the parking lot on 23 Mile in a truck after allegedly trying to steal alcohol from the store. As he drove down Jefferson, Wiley not only saw the yellow Dodge Super Bee in the oncoming southbound lane, it swerved near a ditch and then crossed over into his lane head-on, he said.

The unidentified driver then got back in his own lane as the chief turned around and stopped him by the Chesterfield Shores subdivision. A patrol unit came to complete field sobriety tests.

Wiley said he brought the Chesterfield Township man, who's in his 20s, to the station to process him for drunken driving–making him the first suspect taken there. The driver was then lodged in Macomb County Jail.

The chief said it was an unexpected turn of events for the night.

"Here, I'm coming to move furniture," he said laughing.

The station, which is much larger than the former , cost the city about $870,000 with the purchase of the building and land as well as design and renovation work, police said.

It boasts state-of-the-art security technology, detention cells, a municipal meeting room eyed for city council meetings and senior group gatherings and separate exits for police, the public and meeting attendees. Another room labeled a regional policing office will be available for state or federal law enforcement use in an effort to encourage police collaborations.

For more on the new police station, check back with Patch.