KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Douglas Prude said he is still putting his life back together after a five-year fight to get a fleeing and eluding conviction thrown out, culminating a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court that could change policing in the state.
“A lot of time lost with family, missing holidays, missing funerals. Lost a whole car that had got towed away. I didn’t have a house when I got out. It really did set me back,” Prude told News 8 Tuesday.
On May 30, 2019, Prude was in the parking lot of Fox Ridge Apartments in Kalamazoo when he was approached by police. Two Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers on patrol asked his name, but he wouldn’t give it and said that he was visiting.
“I was out there actually waiting for my cousin; he lived out there with his girlfriend. And the cops had just approached me. And one of the officers that knew me, but he got there one minute after the officer approached me,” Prude said.
How a tossed fleeing and eluding case could change policing in Michigan