groveland

Michigan State Police Car Stolen with guns inside, Suspect armed and dangerous

POSTED: 7:17 am EST January 17, 2005

A man considered armed and dangerous remains on the loose after escaping from authorities in a Michigan State Police cruiser. Police have recovered the patrol car, but believe the man fled in another stolen vehicle.

The police cruiser was recovered in a driveway in Groveland Township Monday morning. Police believe John Metzelburg dumped the patrol car, and then stole a 2000 GMC van.

Metzelburg, 30, fled from Michigan State Police following his arrest in Groveland Township at about 11 p.m. Sunday for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, according to Local 4.

Troopers took the man to the Michigan State Police Groveland Township Post for processing in order to transfer him to the Oakland County Jail. One officer went inside the post, while the other officer stood outside the police cruiser with the man cuffed in the back seat. Metzelburg crawled over the seat and drove away, heading south on Dixie Highway, the station reported.

Police said there were two weapons -- a 12-gauge shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle -- inside the cruiser. The radio inside the vehicle was turned off remotely by state police dispatchers.

"If they run across him, he should be considered armed and dangerous," said Michigan State Police Lt. Harold Love. "Hopefully he dumped the car with the weapons, but we have to believe and assume that he still has the weapons with him. And they are dangerous weapons."

Metzelburg is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing about 150 pounds. The stolen 2000 GMC van he may be driving was described as white, with a rack on top and the license plate No. 4459 HL.

Anyone with information on Metzelburg or the stolen van should call police immediately.

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