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Man charged with assaulting Wayland officer, carjacking

Posted at 5:38 PM, Oct 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-08 17:41:18-04

WAYLAND, Mich. — A man accused of assaulting a police officer and leading multiple law enforcement agencies on a chase has been formally charged.

Christopher Galbraith was arrested Sunday after several different alleged incidents that started when a neighbor called 911 when they saw a pickup truck parked behind a swimming pool in their backyard.

Arriving officers found the truck idling and abandoned next to the damaged pool. An officer heard a radio playing nearby and followed the noise until they saw a person inside a sedan.

Police say Galbraith didn’t listen to a command to stop and accelerated at the officer, who was able to get out of the way. The man then allegedly pulled onto Clark Street in Wayland, but suddenly stopped and backed the vehicle across the lawn and crashed into a Wayland police cruiser.

Because of the damage the sedan suffered in the crash, police say Galbraith jumped out and ran away. He was finally arrested a short time later when a Michigan State Police trooper saw him riding a bicycle nearby.

Investigators said Galbraith tried to steal a vehicle at Wayland Laundry by threatening a customer with a gardening tool, but wasn’t successful.

His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 17. He is charged with malicious destruction of personal property, malicious destruction of fire or police property, assault with a dangerous weapon and fleeing police officers. All the charges are felonies.