The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘… After Receiving a Call About a Suspicious Man in the Area …’

Posted on | November 12, 2022 | Comments Off on ‘… After Receiving a Call About a Suspicious Man in the Area …’

Antonio Michael Rushford

Gosh, I don’t why anyone thought he looked “suspicious”:

A Belding [Michigan] man was arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver after leading police on a brief car chase.
In the early morning hours of Nov. 10, a pickup truck was spotted running a stop sign on Deaner and Wyman Road in Home Township.
When a deputy with the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office attempted to the pull the truck over, it drove off.
The driver, Antonio Michael Rushford, of Belding, was with a woman passenger who texted dispatch and claimed that Rushford was not allowing her to leave the truck.
The deputy lost sight of the vehicle, but the passenger informed dispatch that Rushford crashed the truck and took off on foot.
Officials said they found methamphetamine in the truck after searching the scene where it was abandoned.
Deputies were able to locate Rushford when daylight broke after receiving a call about a suspicious man in the area of the crashed truck.
Further investigation determined that the passenger was friends with Rushford and willingly rode in the truck before he drove off from the traffic stop, officials said. She was treated minor injuries and later released.
Rushford was arrested and taken to jail by the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office.
He has been charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and fleeing and eluding police.

As a journalist, I’ve long been fascinated by the vast distance between (a) the way crime is portrayed in popular entertainment and (b) the reality of criminality. In movies and TV dramas, the criminal is always cunning — sometimes even a brilliant “mastermind” — and his crimes are a mystery which can only be solved by the most careful detectives.

This Criminal Super-Genius motif is very useful as a fictional plot device, but in the real world, most criminals are stupid, and their crimes aren’t usually mysterious. Imagine a show called CSI: Montcalm County, and this episode’s called “The Missing Meth-Head Mystery”:

(SCENE: Interior, Sheriff’s Office.)

SHERIFF: The suspect wrecked a truck full of meth and disappeared. I’ll put my best detectives on the case and . . .

(PHONE RINGS)

SHERIFF: Sheriff’s office.
DISPATCHER: We just got a call about a suspicious man not far from where that car wrecked.
SHERIFF: What do you mean, suspicious?
DISPATCHER: His face is completely covered with tattoos.
SHERIFF: Thanks. (Hangs up phone.) The mystery is solved!

See what I mean? This episode wouldn’t last 10 minutes.

Look, I don’t want to be accused of aiding and abetting criminals, but if you’re driving around with felony quantities of dangerous drugs, maybe it’s not a smart idea to be running stop signs. Just sayin’ . . .




 

Category: Crime, Michigan

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