By Gabrielle Russon
Kalamazoo Gazette
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Kalamazoo County sheriff’s deputy struck a man on the side of a highway and kept going while driving a van transporting inmates in August, according to a report released this week.
The deputy, John Charon, was not charged with a crime because he did not know he had hit someone, said Calhoun County Prosecutor John Hallacy, who reviewed the case.
Charon was reprimanded but not suspended.
“There was no deliberate intent. It was an accident,” Kalamazoo County Sheriff Michael Anderson said. “He was officially reprimanded for carelessness.”
Deputy Ron Garrett, who was with Charon in the van, also was not suspended.
A report on the Aug. 22 incident was released after an inquiry by the Kalamazoo Gazette.
According to the report, Eugene Sootsman had parked his tractor-semitrailer legally on the side of the U.S. 131 Business Loop to inspect it about 1:48 p.m. on a sunny day when he saw the white, unmarked transport van veer toward him. Sootsman said he leaned against his truck to try to avoid being struck, but the van’s passenger-side mirror hit his chest and left arm, knocking him to the ground, the report said.
The van’s mirror was completely torn off, the report said, but Sootsman said it never slowed down and continued on the business loop toward U.S. 131 north of Kalamazoo.
Charon, who was transporting seven female inmates, said later that the he had heard a noise, Hallacy said.
“They were aware something had happened. They weren’t sure what,” said Hallacy, who reviewed the case instead of the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest.
Charon continued driving until the deputies heard an accident announced over the van’s police radio. “They said, ‘Hey, that’s us,’” Hallacy said. “So they reported back to the location.”
Sootsman was treated at a hospital and released, the report said. Anderson said his injuries were minor.
“The Michigan State Police investigated it as a potential criminal offense,” Anderson said. It was not a hit-and-run. ... There was no finding of criminal wrongdoing.”
Charon and Garrett were assigned to jail duties during the investigation but both were allowed to resume transporting inmates, the sheriff said.
Charon joined the sheriff’s department in 1996. “As far as I can recall, this is his first disciplinary issue,” Anderson said.
Copyright 2008 Kalamazoo Gazette