Page 2 — Thursday, August 12, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
pulled over because of his ex-girlfriend, but
Riddle kept talking about her and grew more
agitated.
The officer told him to step out of the vehi-
cle or hand over the key. Riddle held the key
out the window, as if to hand it over, but
pulled it back inside.
“I’m just going to book it,” he said, and
started the ignition.
Twice the officer told Riddle not to leave.
“I am,” Riddle said, and he drove off at a
high rate of speed.
The officer took off after Riddle, driving
north on M-43. Other officers from the city
police and sheriff’s office soon joined the
pursuit.
According to the report, Riddle drove at
more than 115 mph in an attempt to elude the
police. More than once, he pointed a shotgun
at the Hastings City Police cruiser behind
him, which led the officer to back off and
increase the distance between them.
The chase ended at the parking lot of the
Mobil gas station on M-43, east of Woodland.
Details of what occurred there will not be
released until after Michigan State Police
Troopers finish their investigation of the
standoff.
Troopers did say that when Riddle got out
of his vehicle, wielding a stolen shotgun, a
sheriff’s deputy fired shots. No one was hit.
As Riddle went inside the gas station and
barricaded himself, at least one customer was
able to escape the building. Two employees
inside the store hid from Riddle and were later
able to get outside. They were not harmed,
police said.
At some point, however, shots were fired
inside the building.
The Michigan State Police Emergency
Support Team soon arrived at the scene and
started negotiating with Riddle. At 1:30 a.m.,
after nearly seven hours of standoff and nego-
tiations, he surrendered.
He was taken to Spectrum Health Pennock
for evaluation and then to jail. He sustained
minor injuries, although no police or bystand-
ers reported any injuries.
Riddle was charged with three felonies
later that day. These include felonious assault,
which carries a maximum sentence of four
years in prison, fleeing and eluding a police
officer, which carries a maximum of two
years; and resisting and obstructing a police
officer, which carries a maximum of two
years in prison.
Barry County Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor
Pratt said her office expects to file additional
charges on behalf of multiple police agencies.
State troopers said the investigation is con-
tinuing, and witnesses are being sought. They
are being asked to contact the state police
Wayland Post at 269-792-2213.
The court record shows that Riddle has
spent most of his life behind bars.
He was 15 when he was convicted in 1988
of breaking and entering and felony murder.
According to a Detroit Free Press article
from the time, Riddle broke into the home of
80-year-old Renate Henie and crushed her
skull with a beer bottle. Her body was found
two weeks later.
Riddle was sentenced to prison for life. But
he was released on parole in November 2019,
after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that man-
datory life sentences for juveniles are uncon-
stitutional.
The Hastings City Police said they have
had contact with Riddle in 23 separate inci-
dents since August 2020. In most of those
incidents, Riddle was either a suspect or was
arrested.
In November 2020 police interviewed
Riddle after a Hastings Secretary of State
employee reported a rude encounter with him
at her office.
As he was leaving, the woman told police
she heard Riddle say, “I’m going to burn this
place down.”
Riddle admitted to officers that he might
have said that, and told them he has a tenden-
cy to get angry and say things he doesn’t
mean. He later pleaded guilty to disturbing the
peace.
Riddle called police at 1:47 a.m. March 17,
to report a man throwing things at a residence
in Hastings. But when police arrived, a woman
told them Riddle had slammed a door on her
hand, causing her to fall the to the ground and
scrape her knee. Riddle told police he was
“amped up” after drinking two espressos at
the hospital.
Police requested a warrant for his arrest in
that case, but it was denied.
On March 27, Riddle’s ex-girlfriend said he
attacked her while they were driving in a
vehicle in Hastings. The woman said he
accused her of sleeping with her adopted
nephew, and he almost hit the nephew with
the car.
She said he threatened to kill her, would not
let her out of the car and hit her on the hand.
Officers saw her hand was swollen.
The woman also said Riddle talked about
committing “suicide by cop.”
Riddle told police he did not hit the woman,
and accused her of hitting him.
When asked about his comment about
wanting to commit “suicide by cop,” Riddle
told the officers that, “while he often feels he
should have remained in prison and doesn’t
want to be alive, he would never put that on
another person’s conscience.”
When officers told Riddle a warrant might
be issued for his arrest in the March 27 inci-
dent, he said he would willing turn himself in
“as he’s tired of living this lifestyle,” an offi-
cer wrote in his report.
Riddle was charged with domestic vio-
lence, but it was dismissed.
He was then arrested on May 24 for steal-
ing a credit card in a store in Hastings on Jan.
26, 2021.
He was convicted of larceny in a buildingfor that offense in July and sentenced by
Barry County Judge Michael Schipper to
serve 59 days in jail, with credit for 59 days
served; ordered to pay $398 in fines and costs;
and placed on probation for 24 months.
Riddle also was ordered to participate in
the Office of Community Corrections’
Cognitive Behavior Therapy program. A sec-
ond charge of illegal use of a financial trans-
action device was dismissed at the time of his
sentencing.
He was released after his sentencing, on
July 21.
Just hours after his release, Riddle was
accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend in
Hastings. An employee of a West State Street
business reported hearing two people fighting
outside a camper and saw a man throwing
punches before running away.
Riddle’s ex-girlfriend said he hit her in the
face. She told the officers she was afraid he
would come back and “he needs to be in jail.”
He was arrested in Nashville later that
night.
Riddle was charged with domestic vio-
lence, although he ultimately pleaded guilty
to disturbing the peace on Aug. 3. The next
day, Riddle was already a suspect in a break-
ing and entering case, and he led police on the
chase that ended at the Mobil gas station in
Woodland.He will appear before Judge Schipper for a
probable cause conference at 10 a.m. Aug. 25.
It’s a place Riddle has been before; he was
sentenced on July 21 by Schipper for the cred-
it card theft, and pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 in
that courtroom to disturbing the peace.
But since Riddle hasn’t pleaded guilty to
any recent major or violent crime in Barry
County, Schipper said his offenses didn’t rise
above the level of probation.
Although the Hastings City Police request-
ed domestic violence charges on more than
one occasion, that information never crossed
Schipper’s desk.
“I never hear about the cases that are being
investigated, all I see is when they come into
court,” Schipper said. “... There was no
domestic violence that he pled to, or that I
have any record of.”
The Barry County Prosecutor’s Office
declined to comment on Riddle’s case, out-
side of the initial press release sent out last
week about the standoff with police in
Woodland.
The judge did speak to the challenge ofreintegrating someone into society after they
have been in prison for most of their life.
“When you take a kid at 15, 16 years old
and you throw him in prison for 30 years, they
basically are raised in prison,” Schipper said.
“I don’t know how they get out and have any
clue of how to live in society.”
“That has to be so hard,” Schipper added,
“unless you’ve got such a good family sup-
port system that can just take you in and basi-
cally raise you and kind of teach you for a few
years. I don’t know how you do that.”
Schipper also praised law enforcement’s
handling of the standoff with Riddle.
“The situation with Mr. Riddle was a per-
fect example of how amazing law enforce-
ment in Barry County is,” he said. “That situ-
ation very easily could’ve ended in numerous
people hurt and, instead, it ended up in abso-
lutely no one hurt.
“Law enforcement in Barry County does an
amazing job and are incredibly patient.”NEWS BRIEFS
continued from front page
Timothy Riddle The armed standoff at the Mobil gas station in Woodland lasted nearly seven hours. (Photo by Taylor Owens)“This board must ask about a serious issue on
the minds of our constituents and local elected
officials: it’s local election integrity.
“Sheriff, what can you tell us about the
status of the integrity of the Barry County
elections and the status of the report of the
investigation into the voting equipment?”
Geiger asked.
Leaf immediately replied, “Let us finish the
investigation on that. And there’s still some
followup that had to be done. I haven’t talked
to my investigator in about a week. When we
get done, we’ll do a report for you guys and
share it with everybody.”
The last time Leaf discussed the probe in
any detail was during a 20-minute speech at a
political rally in Hillsdale when he told the
audience that a retired sergeant from his
office demanded an investigation.
He likely divulged too much then, he told
The Banner Tuesday.
“But I did agree with the prosecutor that we
weren’t going to release anything until we
were both ready because it is kind of a hot
potato,” he told commissioners. “And I can’t
think of anything I can really give you on it.”
Leaf met with Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor
Pratt last week. The only public statement
following that session was a confirmation of
the meeting and the fact that there was no
police report or requests for charges.
“It’s just a question that the people in the
community have asked about and asked about
and asked, more broadly, are Barry County
elections secure?” Geiger told Leaf.
“For the most part,” Leaf replied, “I would
say yes, for the most part, just from what I
have seen so far.
“There are a couple of quirks we’re looking
into and that’s the followup we’re talking
about. And I don’t want to divulge on that.”
Commissioner Catherine Getty asked about
the involvement of a private investigator in
this county probe.
Leaf confirmed last month that retired DTE
Chief Security Officer Michael Lynch has
been asking the questions with a sheriff’sdeputy at his side.
“I’ve heard from several residents that are
concerned about an investigator working in
Barry County ... and not knowing who is
funding that investigator. Can you tell me
who’s funding that investigator?”
Leaf said he has never received a bill for
Lynch’s services.
“But somebody’s paying. They’re not
doing that for free,” Getty said.
“As far as I know, he’s doing it pro bono,”
the sheriff replied.
“Then I’d like to know what his motiva-
tions are for that,” Getty remarked. “I’ve been
contacted by many, many residents (trying) to
understand about how they’re working within
our system and not knowing their motivations
in the investigation.”
Who is paying this investigator is a legiti-
mate question in this case, she stressed.
“Expert witnesses have come in and spo-
ken to me way back in December, and I’ve
never received a bill from them,” Leaf point-
ed out. “I’m not sure who’s funding them.
Barry County is not.”
Lynch was highly recommended by an
attorney the sheriff has been working with, he
said. “He’s handled investigations before
throughout the country on voter fraud.”
The fact that his office has never handled a
voter fraud case, especially one that might be
this detailed, he said, requires involvement
from some more experienced professional
investigators.
“For the most part, he’s helping my deputy
out,” Leaf said. “My deputy is taking the lead
on it because he works for me.”
The sheriff then expressed some irritationat the line of questioning, adding, “Our ques-
tion is we’re worried about this guy here, but
we’re not worried about the people who are
programming the computers. I’ve never met
any of them, never vetted anybody there. I
don’t know about anybody else. But that was
a question asked of me. And I don’t know
that.”
Getty assured him that she would be very
interested to know the outcome of this probe
“to ensure that our voting process is safe and
secure.”
“Certainly that’s the most important thing,”
she added. “And if we have a credible com-
plaint and an investigation is deemed neces-
sary, then if we hired an investigator we
would ensure that they would be representing
Barry County’s best interests. But having an
investigator that’s being funded from outside
sources ... that just raises a red flag for me.”
Commissioner Howard Gibson asked Leaf
if he had any idea how long the investigation
would continue.
“I don’t know yet,” Leaf said, pointing to
the fact that he has been on vacation and has
not received any updates from staff.
Commissioner Bruce Campbell said the
probe has got everyone concerned. “I do
respect the wishes of law enforcement,” he
said. “And we’ll look forward to a final com-
ment on this at the end of the investigation so
we can all be at ease.”
The probe – which had been temporarily
halted at Nakfoor Pratt’s request last month –
has riled many of the township clerks, some
of whom received surprise visits from Lynch
and a sheriff’s deputy. Some said they were
interrogated and asked to sign affidavits
attesting to the truthfulness of their state-
ments.
County Clerk Pam Palmer has been outspo-
ken about Leaf’s probe, saying it is based “on
a ridiculous accusation with no merit to it.”
Palmer keeps the minutes of the commis-
sioners’ meetings and watched the proceed-
ings from the back of the chambers on the
mezzanine.
After the meeting adjourned Tuesday, she
shook her head in response to the question if
the sheriff’s statement to the board was satis-
factory.
“No,” she said and left the room.Commissioner Catherine Getty asks
who’s paying the private investigator
assisting the sheriff’s department in the
probe.Commissioners Jon Smelker, in foreground, chose to speak one-on-one with the
sheriff after the session concluded. Commissioner Howard Gibson is shown in back-
ground on right, and Chairman Ben Geiger is in background on left.Hastings – Tuesday, Aug. 24, noon-5:45 p.m., New Life Assembly Church, 1490 E. State
Road.
Individuals who are at least 17 years old, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds and are in
generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. A blood donor card or driver’s
license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.
Appointments are preferred and may be made by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App,
visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 800-733-2767.Voice students presenting recital
Students from the music studio of Robert C. Oster will present a voice recital at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 18, at Grace Lutheran Church, 239 E. North St., Hastings.
The performers will include Hastings High School students Hannah Bancroft, soprano,
and Connor Lindsey, tenor.
Also performing will be Hastings resident Mary Kuhlman, alto; Middleville resident
Kate Watson, mezzo-soprano; and Lake Odessa resident Cindy Thelen, mezzo-soprano.
A variety of sacred, secular, Broadway, opera and art song genres in English, German and
Italian from the mid-17th century into the 20th century will be featured.
The concert is free and open to the public.QUESTIONS, continued from page 1
GUNMAN, continued from page 1
The Hastings City Police said they have had contact with Riddle
in 23 separate incidents since August 2020. In most of those
incidents, Riddle was either a suspect or was arrested.“... If we have a credible complaint
and an investigation is deemed
necessary, then if we hired an
investigator we would ensure that
they would be representing Barry
County’s best interests. But
having an investigator that’s being
funded from outside sources ...
that just raises a red flag for me.”Commissioner Catherine GettyDelton-area police
chase ends with arrest
A vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed
passed a Barry Township police officer near
Osborne and Hallock roads Aug. 4.
Using lights and a siren, the officer
attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver
fled the area driving recklessly and at a high
rate of speed, according to a release from the
Prairieville Police Department.
The Barry Township officer was able to
give a description of the vehicle as it fled west
on Osborne Road.
A Prairieville Township officer was soon
able to locate the vehicle on Parker Road and
activated lights and siren to stop the vehicle.
The driver again fled at a high rate of speed
and continued to drive recklessly, disregarding
the safety of motorists, pedestrians and
cyclists, according to the press release.
The driver briefly eluded officers. However,
due to witness statements and evidence found
in the area, officers were able to locate the
vehicle in the 10000 block of South Norris
Road in Prairieville Township.
Officers surrounded the residence and
attempted contact with the driver. One male,
the sole occupant of the vehicle, was
eventually taken into custody and lodged in
the Barry County Jail on numerous charges.
Barry and Prairieville township officers
continue to investigate the incident, and
additional charges are possible.
Michigan State Police Troopers and Barry
County Sheriff’s deputies also assisted.