By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
SHERMAN TWP. — A 10-year-old was killed after a driver allegedly failed to stop in Sherman Township Monday.
According to the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, the incident occurred in the area of Banker Road and Balk Road in Sherman Township. The initial report given to police was that a motor vehicle had hit multiple school children.
Police claim the driver, a 29-year-old Logan Thomas of Vicksburg, was traveling westbound on Banker Street when he allegedly failed to see a group of children in the area who were riding bikes, hitting one of them.
The 10-year-old was pronounced dead after lifesaving measures were attempted.
Thomas was arrested and lodged at the St. Joseph County Jail on felony charges related to the incident. He was arraigned Tuesday in St. Joseph County 3B District Court and pled not guilty to charges of operating a motor vehicle while licensed denied/revoked causing death, which could be punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and operating a vehicle without insurance, which is a misdemeanor.
Prosecutor-elect Deborah Davis, who represented the prosecutor’s office in the arraignment hearing, said Thomas admitted to investigators that he used a controlled substance that wasn’t prescribed to him the night before the incident.
Bond was set at $100,000.
Thomas, according to court records, has three prior felony convictions in Kalamazoo County. He also had been cited and was on bond for driving with a suspended license back on Nov. 7 in Kalamazoo County, according to Davis.
District Court Judge Jeff Middleton had stern words for Thomas at his arraignment.
“You are an abject lesson, Mr. Thomas, for everybody that’s driving around with a suspended driver’s license, and there are thousands of them,” Middleton said. “Every day I see people who have their driver’s license suspended and if they are involved in an accident that results in death, that makes it a felony punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment.
“Your life was going along and now it has taken a completely different turn, and you’re facing a potentially lengthy prison sentence.”
Thomas is due back in court on Tuesday, Dec. 17 for a pre-exam conference, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m. He will be represented by attorney Ross Truckey.
Deputies were assisted at the scene by St. Joseph County Victim Services, St. Joseph County Central Dispatch, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office, Michigan State Police, Tri-Township Fire and Rescue, LifeCare Ambulance, Sturgis Towing and Recovery, and several St. Joseph County citizens.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
