LANSING, Mich. — A conservation officer with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was honored this week for actions resulting in the arrest of an Indiana resident who tried to steal a semi in Kalamazoo County three years ago.
We’re told the suspect, 59-year-old Kenneth Hoskins from South Bend, stabbed the semi driver after a Comstock Township crash along I-94 in April 2020.
Sgt. Chris Holmes was on patrol when dispatchers relayed the developing incident, according to the DNR. He drove to the scene after hearing someone tried to steal the truck.
Holmes reportedly spotted the semi driven by someone who matched the suspect’s description.
The DNR says Hoskins did not possess the necessary skills to drive a semi and soon came to a stop, at which Holmes left his patrol vehicle and described the suspect’s activity to officers en route.
Kalamazoo County deputies arrived and smashed the semi cab’s window, removing the suspect from the truck after he started harming himself with a knife, the DNR says. Hoskins was taken into custody and hospitalized with critical injuries.
Deputies later informed Holmes that Hoskins was a double homicide suspect in an incident that occurred in Battle Creek that same day, according to the DNR.
READ MORE: Police name suspect in double homicide case
Holmes received the Distinguished Service Award earlier this week from the DNR’s Law Enforcement Division (LED).
“This high honor represents the exceptional standards of professionalism and selflessness that conservation officers hold themselves to,” says DNR LED Chief Dave Shaw. “We are proud of Sgt. Holmes, who risked his own life to ensure the safety of bystanders and responding officers. He was instrumental in peacefully apprehending an actively dangerous murderer.”
We’re told the award was delayed because the incident for which he was recognized took place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
