It started, deputies say, with a broken electronics display case inside a grocery superstore — and it ended in the dark, in a field beside one of the busiest freight highways in the American Midwest, with a drone's spotlight picking out two people trying to stay hidden. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office says two people were arrested on Thursday evening, November 5, after a theft report at the Meijer store in Frenchtown Township set off a chase that ran across two interstate highways and finished in a crash inside an I-75 construction zone.
Source: Monroe County Sheriff's Office, via Michigan Legal Center
According to the sheriff's office, the call came in at around 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, from the Meijer in Frenchtown Township, in Monroe County in Michigan's south-eastern corner, just north of the Ohio state line. Investigators said two people had broken into an electronics display case at the store. Meijer is a Michigan-based superstore chain, and its large stores — part supermarket, part department store — are fixtures across the Midwest.
Source: WDIV ClickOnDetroit, via Dearborn.org
A deputy spotted the suspects' vehicle on Monroe Street near Mall Road and tried to stop it, the sheriff's office said. The driver refused to stop and sped away. From there, the chase moved onto the interstates: first southbound Interstate 275, then southbound Interstate 75, two of the main arteries carrying traffic — and heavy truck freight — between the Detroit metropolitan area and Toledo, Ohio.
A crash in the construction zone, then a run into the field
The chase ended on I-75 near South Otter Creek Road, where, the sheriff's office said, the fleeing vehicle crashed in a construction zone. Roadworks are a near-constant presence on this stretch of I-75, and a crash inside a coned-off work area is one of the scenarios highway crews and troopers warn about most: lanes shift, shoulders disappear, and there is very little room for a driver travelling at speed to recover from a mistake.
Neither occupant stayed with the wrecked vehicle. Both ran from the car on foot, the sheriff's office said, heading into a nearby field as darkness fell. Deputies brought in a drone — now a standard tool for sheriff's offices across Michigan — and used it to search the open ground. The drone found the two hiding in the field, and officers took both into custody at the scene.
Who was arrested — and what happens next
The driver, a 27-year-old man from Fairmont, West Virginia, was taken to the Monroe County Jail. He was awaiting arraignment in Monroe County's 1st District Court — the first court appearance at which formal charges are read, rights are explained and bond is considered. The sheriff's office account published on November 6 did not name him ahead of that arraignment. His passenger, a 17-year-old boy from Detroit, was held at the Monroe County Youth Center, the county's juvenile facility; in line with the protection given to minors, he is identified here by age and city only.
Investigators also believe the pair may be connected to other recent thefts at Meijer stores in the Downriver area — the string of communities south of Detroit along the Detroit River. That is an investigative belief at this stage, not a proven fact: no charges arising from those other alleged thefts were announced in the sheriff's account, and anyone charged is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise.
I-75 through Monroe County is a core freight corridor between Detroit and Toledo, carrying heavy cross-border and Midwestern truck traffic day and night. A pursuit ending in a construction-zone crash is exactly the kind of incident that can close lanes for hours and put road crews at risk — and it is a reminder to slow down and move over in work zones, where fines and penalties are typically heavier.
The case remains under investigation. The sheriff's office has asked anyone with information to call 734-240-7758. The next step is the driver's arraignment in 1st District Court, where the formal charges — and whether the investigation into the other Downriver Meijer thefts produces more of them — will become clear.
Sources: Monroe County Sheriff's Office account reported by Michigan Legal Center and by WDIV ClickOnDetroit (syndicated via Dearborn.org), both published November 6, 2026.