Sgt. gets 2 felony charges

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Tweet Two weeks after more than 40 officers searched for the man whom police believed shot an Eaton County Sheriff's sergeant, prosecutors allege the sergeant shot himself in the arm.

Sgt. Jeff Lutz was arraigned Tuesday on two felony and two misdemeanor charges for making a false police report, shooting a police car and recklessly using a firearm, said Michigan State police Detective Lt. Jaime Corona.

Lutz reported he was patrolling in Delta Township, located just west of Lansing, at about 3 a.m. March 20, when he approached a suspicious person, who then shot him.

Police set up a perimeter, and more than 40 officers from eight police departments conducted a search on foot and by helicopter, McPhail said. Officers searched until about 10:30 a.m.

Lutz, a white man, told police a black man shot him in the arm, and composite drawings were posted of the suspect.

Less than a week into the investigation, the sheriff's department handed the case to the Michigan State Police, because "some of the questions that needed to be asked put our detectives in a very uncomfortable and awkward position due to their working relationship with him," Eaton County Undersheriff Fred McPhail said.

The felonies each carry a maximum prison sentence of four years. The misdemeanor for reckless use of a firearm has a maximum 90-day sentence, and the misdemeanor for a false report on a police radio station has a maximum one-year sentence, Corona said.

"The attitude of the deputies on the road seems to be that they're down, but they will persevere. They will do their jobs to the best of their ability and get through this eventually," McPhail said. "It's sad that one of their own could do this and tarnish their badges as well as his."

Lutz's attorney, G. Michael Hocking, said his client has suffered from increasing levels of "stress and anguish" in the time since Lutz was involved in a 2004 gun battle with a murder suspect at a Lansing-area Red Robin restaurant.

Lutz had sought treatment recently and was prescribed a combination of medications that Hocking said might "have sent him into a tailspin."

"The true facts of this case will reveal that it is a medical issue," Hocking said.

Lutz is on paid medical leave and is being housed at a mental health treatment facility.

The original incident scared community members and hurt local businesses, said Steve Rothwell, owner of Major League Sports Cards and Comics, 4405 W. Saginaw Hwy. in Lansing.

Rothwell's store was in the area searched by police in connection with the reported shooting.

"I'm disgusted. I'm appalled. I think he should be held financially responsible for every business in the area that lost business and also for every community service that was involved, including helicopters and all the police," Rothwell said. "Not only the fact that he cost us the money and manpower and he scared the whole community, that doesn't even bring up the racial aspect of it, where he blames a black man for this — that's even more appalling."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Melissa Domsic can be reached at domsicme@msu.edu.

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