BY LARRY SOBCZAK
EDITOR
A new court date has been set for Bruce Township Clerk Susan Brockmann who is facing charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) with a high blood alcohol content (BAC) from an incident that allegedly occurred at 3 a.m. on Sept. 11 at the Bruce Township Hall parking lot.
A pretrial hearing has been set for 9 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 19 at the 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore. The courthouse is located at 35071 23 Mile Road.
A pretrial hearing allows the prosecutor and defendant to discuss legal issues before a case moves towards trial.
The case was moved earlier this month from the district court in Romeo after Judge Denis LeDuc recused himself from the case.
Also last week, the Michigan State Police released more details about the case through a Freedom of Information request that may give more information on why Brockmann was at the township hall in the middle of the night.
Brockmann has not given any specific details about the alleged incident but she said that she was remorseful in a statement at the Dec. 7 Bruce Township Board of Trustees meeting. She said did not want to discuss the incident with the press and she said that it was a private matter.
Michigan State Troopers were dispatched to the Bruce Township Hall at 2:54 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11 to investigate a breaking and entering alarm on the building.
An incident report written by Michigan State Police Trooper Roger Haddad said that he found a Silver Jeep Commander with its lights on and Brockmann in the driver’s seat.
Haddad said that he parked his patrol car with its lights on behind the Jeep at 3 a.m. and got out of his car to approach Brockmann.
Haddad said that Brockmann allegedly placed her car in reverse and struck the patrol car with her car.
According to Haddad he could smell the strong odor of alcohol coming from Brockmann and her vehicle.
The trooper said that Brockmann told him she came to the building to sleep because she got into a fight with her family.
“I asked her if she set the alarm off, Brockmann stated ‘yes”. I asked Brockmann if she have been drinking and she stated yes, I asked how much did she have to drink, Brockmann advised me that she only had three glasses of wine. I then asked her when was her last drink, she stated ‘ten o’clock’,” Haddad wrote in his report.
Haddad said that Brockmann was upset at the fact she was being questioned and repeatedly stated “I’m the clerk” and questioned him why he was doing this to her.
“Brockmann started to plead stating that she would do anything to make this right and just go home and asked me if we can work anything out,” Haddad wrote in the report.
Haddad said that Brockmann repeated the statement numerous times and asked if he could just drive her home.
Haddad said that while speaking to another trooper that he heard Brockmann give another completely different story stating to him that the alarm company called her and she came to shut the alarm off.
Haddad said that he confronted Brockmann about the change in her story.
“Brockmann went on to say that she only lives three miles away and she is getting punished for doing her job. When I tried to explain to her that she should not have drove if she had been drinking , Brockmann did not seem to comprehend what I was saying and stating that the alarm company called her so she responded and does not know why I am doing this to her,” Haddad wrote in the report.
According to Haddad, Brockmann failed field sobriety tests which included following his finger, picking a number between 18 and 20, one legged stand and the walk and turn.
Haddad said that Brockmann refused the preliminary breath test so she was transported to the Chesterfield Police Department where a qualified person could draw blood.
At the police station, Haddad said that Brockmann consented to a breath test and the test results indicated she had a blood alcohol content of 0.20 percent at 4:24 a.m. A second test administered at 4:29 a.m. allegedly indicated her blood alcohol content was at 0.18 percent.
Blood alcohol content above 0.08 percent is considered drunk according to Michigan driving laws. A blood alcohol content above 0.18 percent is considered “super drunk” under Michigan law and drivers face stiffer penalties if convicted.
