'Violently unpredictable,' Cassopolis police car theft suspect facing 17 new charges

CASSOPOLIS, Mich-- ABC57 has new details on the Cassopolis Police car theft and getaway. The suspect, Andy Freshour, was charged with fleeing police, obstruction, firearm possession, and much more.

Freshour has 17 new charges against him, on top of all his prior convictions and charges.

Friday in court, Prosecutor Victor Fitz described him as "a violently unpredictable selfish and dangerous meth addict." He also said his priors mean he could face life in prison.

"I don't know why people do things that they do, but it's stupid to run from the cops, and take their car no less," said Leonard Heroy.

Yet that's what Andy Freshour did Wednesday, finally caught in the swamp behind Leonard Heroy's house.

"They brought out the drones, we had drones flying overhead and stuff," he told ABC57's Annie Kate. "They ended up locating him somewhere directly behind this next house over here."

Freshour made a getaway in a marked Cassopolis police car as officers were trying to arrest him for a drug-related probation violation.

"We consider this a very serious offense. You don't mess with law enforcement and their vehicles and their safety," Fitz said.

And for the first time, ABC57 learned how he was able to do it.

"When the officer went out to arrest him, handcuffed him, put him in the vehicle, the defendant deceptively and for the purpose of escaping, begged and cajoled the officer to go and roll up the car windows of his vehicle. The officer did that, again in an act of benevolence toward this selfish and dangerous man. And when the officer did that in a downpour of rain, the defendant jumped the seat, got in the vehicle, and took off," said Fitz.

This happened around 1p.m., and multiple agencies mobilized, catching him after 7 p.m. in that swampy area.

"He continued to try to evade the officers in water that was at least waist-deep or deeper. The officers, again, plunged forward and captured him," Fitz said.

It's Freshour's third felony gun-related offense.

"The defendant took the long gun from the patrol unit, as well as body armor, and buried those underground," Fitz said.

The gun was recovered by a police canine.

Freshour could be seen shaking his head during the prosecutor's testimony of Wednesday's events.

His bond was set at $250,000, but he'll stay behind bars regardless on other charges where bond was denied.

"He's 2 to 3 bonds deep, so to speak," Fitz said.

He already has a jury trial set for September. Now, he has this new set of charges to defend in court.

"By his own actions, he's shown that he is a danger to this community, and he is a flight risk, due to the fact that he's allegedly stolen a squad car and run from police," said the judge at Wednesday's arraignment.

There are still unanswered questions, like where the incident began.

It's the third day that ABC57 has called, emailed, and shown up in person at the Cassopolis Police Department, and so far, they have declined all our interview requests.

There's been a lot of social media outrage over how long it took for the police to notify the public, and some were even concerned that schools weren't locked down.

ABC57's Annie Kate called the superintendent of Cassopolis Schools, Dr. John Ritzler.

"We have a safety and security officer who carries a police radio with him, and so he knew almost immediately what was happening, and knew that the vehicle that had been stolen was heading north out of the village and away from our schools, so the decision was made that there was not a need to take any action at the schools," Ritzler said.