Police said an 80-year-old Melvindale resident was sexually assaulted by a man at the Michigan Welcome Center on northbound I-75 in Monroe Township.
Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough said the incident occurred at about 2:29 p.m. on April 10.
The Monroe County Central Dispatch received reports of a man grabbing several males by the genitals in the bathroom at the Welcome Center before physically attacking and sexually assaulting the Melvindale man in the lobby and dragging him into the bathroom.
Witnesses and bystanders intervened and the suspect, a 32-year-old Detroit man, fled the Welcome Center on foot, crossing the northbound travel lanes of I-75 to a vehicle parked on the southbound median shoulder.
Multiple deputies were dispatched to the scene.
The first deputy to arrive located the suspect, who was in a silver Chevrolet Impala.
The suspect fled southbound and the deputy pursued him.
An Erie Township police officer joined the pursuit.
The vehicle pursuit continued southbound and crossed into Ohio.
Police said the suspect’s vehicle ran out of gas just north of I-280 and he was taken into custody without further incident.
Toledo Police arrived to assist and lodged the suspect in the Lucas County Jail where he awaits extradition to Michigan for a variety of assaultive crimes and fleeing and eluding.
The man’s identity is being withheld pending formal arraignment in 1st District Court in Erie.
The incident remains under investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau.
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 734-240-7530.
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