COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Two suspects were arraigned on Monday in the Branch County District Court on numerous charges after a pair of vehicles were stolen locally earlier this month and a police pursuit took place in Coldwater last Friday night.
35-year-old Jason Work and 20-year-old Lilyan Blankenship are both facing two counts of driving away of a motor vehicle.
In addition, Work has been charged with third degree fleeing from a police officer and assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer.
Blankenship has also been charged with possession of methamphetamine, second degree retail fraud and assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer.
According to Branch County court documents, the two are accused of stealing vehicles on January 3 and 7 from people they knew.
Police were told last Friday night to be on the lookout for a silver passenger vehicle that was involved in a theft at a liquor store on the west side of Coldwater in which a female suspect grabbed a bag of items worth $556 and left the store without paying for them after several forms of payment were declined.
A Coldwater Police Officer saw the suspect vehicle and tried to stop it but the vehicle did not stop for the emergency lights and accelerated at a high rate of speed down U.S. 12.
The vehicle made many turns onto residential streets including Peckham, Jackson and Clay. The Coldwater police officer terminated the pursuit on two occasions for safety concerns.
The vehicle was later spotted on Hull Street where it crashed near Wright Street. The two suspects in the vehicle managed to get away.
Work and Blankenship were eventually arrested the following day and then booked at the Branch County Jail.
Not guilty pleas were entered for both suspects during their arraignments on Monday. Bond for Work was set at $30,000 while Blankenship’s total bond is $35,000.
Probable cause hearings were scheduled for January 20 with preliminary exams in District Court set for January 26.
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