Jury Acquits Driver In Trooper's 2015 Dragging Death

An Oakland County jury has acquitted Charles Warren, charged in the dragging death of Michigan State Police Trooper Chad Wolf in 2015, according to media reports. Warren, 71, of Waterford, who was charged with reckless driving causing death, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident, was pulling a trailer when he struck Wolf’s police motorcycle and dragged him for about four miles, investigators have said.

Warren’s lawyer argued that Wolf’s death was a tragedy, but not a crime, the Detroit Free Press reported. The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for about four hours before returning the verdict, The Detroit News reported. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Birmingham Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Wolf was on routine patrol on Dixie Highway near Interstate 75 in Springfield Township at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 28, 2015, when Warren abruptly switched lanes and struck Wolf’s department-issued motorcycle, State Police said. When Warren stopped at a rest stop near Holly, witnesses called police, according to earlier reports.

Neil Rockind, Warren's defense attorney, said Wolf was following so closely that he was unable to stop before hitting the trailer. He said Warren didn’t realize he had hit the trooper until later.

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor David Hutson disputed Rockind's account, saying that Warren chose to pull a trailer that was not properly equipped with working lights and drove recklessly.

"This was a tragedy," Hutson said. "But evidence will show there it came at his (Warren's) fault and of serious choices."

Warren could have faced 15 years in prison on each count if he had been convicted.

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Michigan State Police photo of Trooper Chad Wolf