Capt. Brandon DeHaan, assistant director of the Grand Valley Police Department, said since the fall semester began, officers have arrested individuals on three separate occasions for resisting and opposing – or, in other words, running away from the cops.

While one of the incidents where the individual fled from the police involved a non-student attempting to break into a parked car, two out of the three involved underage drinking, which is typically a 90-day misdemeanor if cited with a minor in possession charge.

“By running from the police, they’ve exasperated the criminal offense by turning it into a felony,” DeHaan said, adding that the criminal offense could result in a four-year felony charge if the officer involved sustains an injury as a result of the chase.

If a student does flee, DeHaan said officers have the responsibility to engage in the chase, since there could be other potentially dangerous factors involved in that individual’s decision to run. “If you’ve been had, you’ve been had,” DeHaan said. “It’s foolish to run from the police.”

Additional, he said the Ottawa County Sheriff Office had two alcohol-related incidents of a similar nature where GVSU officers assisted in this same time frame. The use of alcohol, he said, most likely impaired the judgment of the individuals involved in all of the incidents. “If students choose to drink, we ask that they chose to do so wisely,” DeHaan said.