Man sent to jail for police officer assault.

January 25, 2021

Peoples

Man sent to jail for police officer assault.

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

HART — A 29-year-old Hart man was sentenced in 27th Circuit Court Monday, Jan. 25, to one year in jail for a conviction of assaulting/resisting/obstructing police.

Brett Anthony Peoples, of 336 144th Ave., was sentenced to one year and four months to 15 years in prison April 11, 2016 for a previous conviction of assaulting police causing injury.

A Shelby officer was knocked unconscious outside of the Mercy Health Shelby hospital in 2016. As he was being escorted out of the patrol car, the handcuffed Peoples lunged at the Shelby officer and knocked him to the ground.

While Peoples was on parole in 2018, he was arrested again for assaulting police, said Judge Robert D. Springstead. He was then arrested again in 2020 for assaulting police. 

“He admitted that he lunged aggressively at the officers and was tazed,” said his attorney Timothy Hayes. 

“I’d like to apologize to the officers who were on duty that night, and I accept responsibilities for my actions,” said Peoples. 

“It seems like any time you have an encounter with the police, it’s going to go bad,” said Judge Springstead, who ordered two years probation.

“So why are you such an angry guy?” the judge asked.

“It’s kind of almost like a traumatic experience for me,” said Peoples. “It was quick and impulsive.”

He received credit for one two days served in jail. 

Sentencing guidelines in the case are two to 25 months.

Peoples appeared in court via Zoom video conferencing due to COVID-19.

Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals who support our service. Click on the PayPal donation button located on the top right of our website.

This story is copyrighted © 2021, 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.

As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.