Former Springfield man who escaped from Ingham County Jail caught

EATON RAPIDS: A former Springfield man who escaped a week ago from the Ingham County jail was caught Saturday and returned to custody.

Michael David McKerchie. 32, from Otsego but who has lived in Springfield, was caught about 4:30 p.m. in Eaton Rapids following a police pursuit and crash in a cemetery, according to the Ingham County Sheriff Department.

McKerchie, wanted in Calhoun County on charges including felonious assault, home invasion and destruction of police property, escaped Nov. 13 from the Ingham County jail.

Police in Calhoun County and Battle Creek were alerted about the escape but had not reported any sightings of McKerchie. Deputies had released photographs of the fugitive and noted a distinctive tattoo on his neck.

He was not seen until Saturday when spotted by a resident leaving a convenience store in Eaton Rapids and driving a black pick-up. The witness called 911 and an Eaton Rapids officer saw the vehicle and attempted to stop it. Eaton Rapids is a city of 5,000 people about 35 miles northeast of Battle Creek.

MKerchie fled in the vehicle, crashed in a cemetery and then fled on foot. Eaton County deputies arrived and during a search and learned from a resident that his pick-up had been stolen a few minutes earlier and deputies said they located, pursued and stopped the truck.

McKerchie was arrested and taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and returned to jail.

He now faces charges in Eaton County and Ingham County as well as Calhoun County.

Ingham County officials said a week ago that McKerchie had dismantled a mattress and used the padding to simulate his body sleeping and had escaped through a day window he dismantled.

Deputies discovered he was gone at 5:45 a.m. that morning but found video of him running from the jail on Cedar Street in Mason about at 11:23 p.m the night before.

He had been jailed on charges of reckless driving causing serious impairment, failure to stop at the scene of a crash causing serious impairment and resisting police after stealing a vehicle from a Dunkin Donuts on Okemos Road near Interstate-96 and crashing.

He had been sought in Calhoun County when warrant was issued on Sept. 28 after he allegedly entered the Springfield apartment of his former girlfriend, 21, and mother of his child and used a gun to threaten her and a social worker who was visiting.

That incident was reported to the Calhoun County Sheriff Department at 9:38 p.m. Sept. 15 and deputies were unable to find him.

A magistrate ordered that McKerchie be held without bond and returned to Calhoun County when he was found.

He also was awaiting a preliminary examination after Calhoun County deputies said he assaulted his girlfriend on July 19 and punched two women who attempted to intervene. McKerchie was found and later released on a $5,000 bond. The girlfriend denied she was assaulted.

He also was arrested and later released on bond after the girlfriend reported on June 20 that McKerchie took their son from her apartment. The child was found unharmed and he was arrested on assault charges from an earlier incident investigated by Battle Creek police.

Charges of destruction of police property were sought after McKerchie kicked and damaged a patrol car door.

He also has a warrant after he failed to appear Sept. 1 for a preliminary examination in Calhoun County District Court.

He has served prison sentences in the Michigan Department of Corrections for escaping from a juvenile facility, vehicle thefts, fleeing from police and tampering with evidence.

Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com