WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Warren’s police commissioner defended his department’s decision to pursue a fleeing vehicle for nearly three minutes the day after Christmas, ending in the 24-year-old suspect’s death.
“This subject is dead due to the choice he made to flee from the officers,” said Commissioner William Dwyer.
The family of Maurice Kelley says he was on his lunch break when police pulled him over for expired license plate tabs. Kelley told officers he did not have his license on him, and they would later learn it was suspended.
After being asked to step out of the vehicle, Kelley put the Chevrolet Cruze in drive and sped off, prompting police to chase him.
Dash camera video showed Kelley blowing through a stop sign on a residential street, then pulling on to the grass before ultimately getting back on the road.
He was speeding well north of the 25 mph posted speed, even driving on the sidewalk at one point. Kelley again drove on the lawn of an apartment building as he tried to flee police, who struggled to catch up.
Dwyer defended the officers’ decision to initiate the chase, and to not continue chasing, calling it a “judgment call… which I support.”
Through the years, many departments have clamped down on police pursuits because of the inherent risk they post to the public and police.
In 2022, Michigan State Police instituted a policy that only allows officers to chase a suspect if they are wanted for a felony, driving the wrong direction down an interstate or pose “imminent threat to public safety” for reasons other than the chase itself.
In a press conference Wednesday, Dwyer said he did not know what speeds officers reached but said they traveled at “moderate speeds.”
But they did not. After repeated questioning from 7 Action News, a department lieutenant acknowledged that officers traveled as fast as 107 miles per hour on the chase, more than twice the posted speed limit on 10 Mile Road.
The average speed for the chase, the official said, was 82 miles per hour.
The chase ultimately ended as Kelley approached Ryan Road, running a red light and colliding with a box truck. He died at the scene.
“Knowing that these chases are inherently dangerous, how did your officers decide that a license plate violation was worth this risk?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“Because in many, many cases — maybe the majority of cases we run into — when we have a fleeing and eluding case, it always leads up to someone that was either wanted on a felony, convicted of a felony or going to commit a felony,” Dwyer said.
Kelley was not wanted for a felony, but officers would later learn he did have a warrant for a traffic offense, a misdemeanor. After the crash — where Kelley died at the scene — police recovered a stolen handgun in his vehicle.
Dwyer said that supervisors monitored the chase in real time back at police headquarters, and bristled at the suggestion that it put anyone in danger.
“Did you see anywhere in that video where someone’s life was in danger?” he asked.
“Obviously, that was the case because this man is dead,” replied Jones.
“Did you see anyone that he possibly was going to hit?” Dwyer asked. “I didn’t see anything.”
“He ran into a truck,” Jones said, referring to Kelley.
The pursuit marked the 293rd police chase in Warren in 2023; an occurrence that residents say is happening far too often.
“We’ve lived here for about five years now,” said Jaclyn Lentz. “Seems like every day, there’s some kind of a car accident because of a police chase.”
Lentz doesn’t live far from the accident and saw the wreckage firsthand. She said chases like this are happening too often.
“Please slow down,” Letnz said. “It’s not worth it. I’m sorry, but it’s not worth it.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at 248-827-9466.
