Detroit Police Launch Probe Into Death Of 15-Year-Old

DETROIT, MI — Detroit police have launched their own investigation into the death of a 15-year-old who died after a Michigan state trooper tasered the boy as he drove an ATV along a city street. After getting hit with the stun gun, the boy, Demond Grimes, crashed into pickup. He later died at a city hospital.

That incident happened Saturday evening near Rossini Drive and Gratiot Avenue on the city's east side. State police officials said that trooper had ordered boy to pullover. When he failed to do so, the trooper deployed his stun gun. The state police cover the area as part of Michigan’s Safe Cities program.

The Detroit police’s independent investigation will run concurrently with one by the Michigan state police. Detroit Police Chief James Craig announced the investigation during a press conference on Monday. The results of the investigation are to be turned over to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office for review.

The investigation will be done in a timely manner, Craig said. He declined to give a specific time frame for its completion.

“This (trooper) has a right to due process and in no way should this be an implication of of criminality,” Craig said.

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The trooper, who has not been identified, was suspended on Sunday. According to a report in the Detroit News, the trooper was suspended because he violated a policy that forbids troopers from firing stun guns into moving vehicles.