.png)
Seven Laroue, left, with defense attorney Timothy Hayes.
Defendant ‘hams it up’ during court hearing.
By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.
#OceanaCountyCrime
HART — A 46-year-old Branch man who appeared in 27th Circuit Court Monday, Feb. 12, for sentencing on felony charges appeared more interested in his photo being taken by media than his criminal case.
Seven Laroue, of 9534 N. 192nd Ave., smiled and waved a “peace sign” as his photo was being taken by OCP while he stood before Judge Robert D. Springstead.
Laroue’s sentencing was re-scheduled for Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. so that he has more time to discuss his case with defense attorney Timothy Hayes, who was just re-assigned to the case Monday.
Laroue, who chose not to have an attorney and represented himself last December, was found guilty by a 12-member jury of two counts of resisting and opposing police and malicious destruction of a building, according to Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon.
The charges stem from an incident last summer that occurred in Newfield Township just outside of Hesperia at M 20 and 188th Avenue where Laroue was residing in a “streamlined trailer,” Bizon said.
It was 1 a.m., and Laroue was “yelling and screaming and carrying on.” He broke a window at his neighbor’s house. “He had an issue with his neighbor,” Bizon said, and his neighbor was his former fifth grade teacher.
After breaking out his neighbor’s window, he went back to his place, where Oceana County sheriff’s deputies found him in “a sleeping position,” the prosecutor said. After police woke him up, he tried sneaking out the window and escaping in the woods. Then, “a tussle in a retaining pond” ensued with the deputies.
No injuries occurred in the incident, Bizon said.
Laroue faces a charge of assault by strangulation in Newaygo County regarding a separate incident. His case was set for trial last month, but was adjourned, said Newaygo County Prosector Worth Stay. Laroue, who has attorney Melissa Dykman representing him in that case, was to be evaluated at the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry to determine criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial, Stay said. Dykman made the request for the testing, and the court agreed, he said. Laroue would be transferred from the Oceana County Jail to the forensics center for testing.
A trial date in Newaygo County has not yet been scheduled.
Laroue was previously convicted of third-offense operating while intoxicated in Newaygo County in 2013 and sentenced to one year and one month to 10 years in prison; third-offense domestic violence in 2005 in Oceana County and sentenced to one to two years in prison; and killing/torturing animals in 2005 in Oceana County and sentenced to one and a half to four years in prison, according to the Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS).
This story is copyrighted © 2018, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
.jpg)
