Following a pursuit that lasted six hours, 48-year old Brian Franzel, of Snover, was arrested Saturday afternoon after allegedly pulling a knife on his 20-year old roommate. Sanilac County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the home in the 2200 block of West Sanilac Road in Moore Township where the incident occurred. They tried to speak with Franzel, however he ignored verbal commands to exit his vehicle. Instead he reversed the vehicle, directing it toward one of the deputies. The deputy was able to safely avoid it.
As Franzel left the residence, a vehicle pursuit began. However, it was called off about 10 miles north of where it started, because of poor weather conditions.
Deputies continued to canvass the area, and around 3 o’clock they located Franzel traveling in his vehicle near Mills and Banner Roads in Wheatland Township. Again, he ignored deputies commands to stop. The pursuit continued on a number of roads in Marion and Delaware townships. At one point, Franzel ran one of the deputies and their patrol unit off the road in an attempt to evade arrest.
Franzel later called central dispatch and asked to speak with a deputy. While on the phone with dispatch, he said that he was on Patz Road near Goetze Road, and had stopped to speak with a bystander who was walking their dog. Deputies converged on the scene and Franzel was taken into custody without further incident.
He is lodged in the Sanilac County Jail on a number of felony charges and was arraigned Monday in Sanilac County district court.
