Delta Township — Some community members are angry at the possibility that an Eaton County Sheriff's sergeant lied about shooting himself in the arm and blamed it on a black man.
Sgt. Jeff Lutz was arraigned Tuesday on two felony charges and two misdemeanor charges for making a false police report, shooting a police car and recklessly using a firearm.
On March 20, a manhunt involving more than 40 officers from eight departments ensued after Lutz reported he was shot in the arm by a black man in Delta Township, located just west of Lansing.
Now, prosecutors allege Lutz shot himself.
Lutz's attorney, G. Michael Hocking, did not return phone calls or e-mails on Tuesday or Wednesday. Although Lutz deserves criticism for describing the attacker as black, the incident was isolated, Eaton County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sauter said.
"I don't think it should reflect on the department," Sauter said. "It was not the act of the department."
Delta Township resident Mike Hunter walked out of his house the morning of March 20 to see a large police manhunt in progress.
"It's sad that people we put in power to protect and serve us would stoop so low and lie about it," said Hunter, who lives across the street from where the incident occurred.
The Clergy Forum of Greater Lansing, a group of black pastors, held a news conference Wednesday to call for an investigation of the sheriff's department and the way it handles racial issues.
"We are incensed that an entire community was subjected to lockdown and fear based upon the false accusation of a police officer, and that black males in particular were subjected to a volatile environment, police scrutiny, suspicion and arrests," group president Melvin Jones said, adding a meeting with the sheriff's department on Wednesday afternoon went well.
When there's a false description of a black suspect, people could be hauled to the police department for no good reason except the fact that they look like someone in a sketch, said Christina DeJong, an associate professor of criminal justice.
"Unfortunately, this kind of thing does happen from time to time, when people will blame this mysterious black stranger when no crime was committed," DeJong said. "What I've heard from a lot of the community leaders is … it damages the relationship that exists between police and the community."
But the Eaton County case was an isolated incident, DeJong said, adding she hasn't seen any evidence of past racism in the Eaton County Sheriff's Department.
Members of the Eaton County Sheriff's Department are upset, but will continue to do their jobs and get through the situation, Undersheriff Fred McPhail said Tuesday.
"Obviously, we're disappointed that one of our members would display such conduct," McPhail said.
The use of general descriptions of black suspects concerns Stephen Sawyers, political affairs director for the Black Student Association and a team coordinator for the Office of Racial Ethnic Student Affairs at MSU.
"The question then becomes, 'Is every black man a suspect?'" Sawyers said.
