ALLEGAN — A man accused of seriously injuring an Allegan County sheriff’s deputy who was trying to arrest him has been charged with five felonies, including attempted murder, WOOD TV-8 reports.
Christopher Gerou, 35, of Dorr Township, was arraigned Wednesday in Allegan County for an incident Monday, Sept. 12.
The charges against him include assault with intent to murder; aggression, resistance and obstruction of law enforcement causing serious impairment; assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm; operate while intoxicated; and assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer, court records show. The attempted murder charge is punishable by up to life in prison.
During Wednesday afternoon’s hearing, Allegan County Prosecutor Myrene Koch asked for $100,000 bail for Gerou. She cited the seriousness of the charges against him and said the deputy was “severely injured” with “significant head trauma.”
He also pointed out that Gerou is a habitual offender and said Gerou would pose “a significant flight risk.” Gerou responded by saying “that’s not true”.
While acknowledging the seriousness of the case, Magistrate Prosecutor Daniel Norbeck noted that Gerou has not had any criminal convictions since 2014. Koch said that was because he spent eight years in prison.
Norbeck set Gerou’s bail at $10,000.
The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said Gerou assaulted an officer who was trying to arrest him Monday evening. A court document says the deputy suffered a skull fracture and a brain hemorrhage. He remained in the hospital Wednesday, Sheriff Frank Baker told News 8.
“We are happy to report that we are seeing improvements. We have been updated regularly and that night he is starting to show some type of improvement in his condition,” Baker said.
The deputy was dispatched to a neighborhood in the area of 142nd Avenue and 16th Street in Dorr Township on a report that someone was driving back and forth at a high rate of speed without headlights. Baker said the deputy found Gerou outside the home and called for backup after noticing that Gerou was agitated and possibly intoxicated. A Michigan State Police trooper soon arrived.
“(The deputy) went to place the individual under arrest, at which time the suspect struck him and created a head injury that incapacitated him,” Baker told News 8.
According to a probable cause document filed in court, after Gerou admitted to driving to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail, the deputy gave him a roadside sobriety test and Gerou then refused to take a test of portable breath.
“(Gerou) stated, ‘you will not get blood from me, you can (expletive) leave and die,'” the court document says.
The deputy told Gerou he was under arrest, but Gerou began to walk away, the document says.
“(The deputy) attempted to grab Gerou’s wrist, at which point Gerou abruptly turned and struck (the deputy) with his right arm in the head/neck, knocking him unconscious as he fell onto the driveway,” the deputy says. document.
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When the MSP officer tried to grab Gerou’s wrist, he pulled away again and used an expletive, the court document says. The soldier pulled out his Taser and Gerou surrendered.
“As Gerou lay on the ground at the Taser Point he stated, ‘I hope he’s dead,’ referring to (the deputy) still lying unconscious in the driveway and later found bleeding from the back of his head,” the document says .
Gerou was released from the Michigan Department of Corrections in August 2022 after serving about eight years in prison for assault by strangulation, online records show. MDOC records show he previously served time for assaulting a police officer in 2007 and for trespassing and marijuana convictions in 2010. Court records show he has a history of arrests for assaulting a police employee prison and domestic violence.
Gerou is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause conference on Sept. 21 and again for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 27.
— WOOD TV-8’s Demetrios Sanders contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared in The Holland Sentinel: An Allegan County man charged with beating and seriously injuring a sheriff’s deputy