MONTCALM COUNTY, Mich. — Sean Bylsma, 34, of Comstock Park, is in Montcalm County Jail on $5,000 bond and facing four different charges after fleeing a deputy and then fighting him Saturday night.
According to the Sheriff’s Department report, Bylsma wrecked his Chevy Suburban on Holland Lake Road in Sidney Township sometime Saturday night, but he wasn’t alone.
Investigators tells us Bylsma’s four-year-old son was behind the wheel, sitting in his dad’s lap.
Bylsma “told the officer he was allowing his son to sit on his lap in a field, showing him how to drive. That later turned out to be false, we believe.”
A deputy saw the damage to the truck and tried to pull Bylsma over, but the department’s report says Bylsma wouldn’t stop. He fled to his mother’s house on South Nevins Road, just a couple of miles away.
Once at the house, Bylsma got out of the truck against the deputy’s orders and went inside to give his son to the boy’s grandma.
Then Bylsma came back outside and found the deputy with his Taser drawn.
“The gentleman jumped at him and the officer discharged the Taser and what basically took place was a fight. Rolling around on the ground. This took place for several minutes.”
Michigan State Police eventually came to help. Bylsma was then arrested.
The truck involved was still in the driveway on South Nevins Road on Monday. The front of the vehicle was smashed in and an empty bottle of liquor was sitting in the back seat.
Court records show Bylsma was just released from prison on February 9 after serving 26 months of a five-year sentence for getting his third OWI offense.
Now, Bylsma is charged with fleeing an officer, assaulting an officer, operating with an open container, and driving with a suspended license.
Montcalm County Prosecutor Andrea Krause tells FOX 17 that there won’t be any child endangerment charges filed because there’s no evidence that Bylsma was drunk at the time.
The sheriff’s report says alcohol was probably a primary factor in the incident.
