Formal charges were filed earlier this week in District Court for Carroll County against an out-of-state man involved in a police pursuit nearly a month ago that resulted in serious injuries to passengers in another vehicle. Court records say 39-year-old Todd Alan Michalec of Escanaba, Mich. faces six felony charges, including three counts of eluding or attempting to elude and three counts of serious injury by vehicle, all class D felonies. On June 3 at approximately 7:15 p.m., officers with the Carroll Police Department were notified of a driver on Highway 30 attempting to wave down passing motorists. While on the way to the reported incident, law enforcement witnessed a 2008 Jeep Liberty traveling westbound at 72 mph in a 35 mph zone. Michalec failed to yield to authorities’ emergency lights and collided head-on with an eastbound 2012 Chrysler Town and Country van. The van’s occupants, 47-year-old Heide Reinhardt of Glidden, and 25-year-old Caitlin Main and 25-year-old Gina Gibson, both of Carroll, sustained serious injuries as a result. Michalec’s arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, July 11 at the Carroll County Courthouse. If found guilty he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $45,000 in fines.
