A mother’s and sibling’s quick actions saved a young girl from a frightening situation at a local thrift store this past Friday, August 25, according to Sandusky Police Chief Brett Lester.
On Friday around 1:45 p.m., Sandusky Police were dispatched to the Hope Thrift Store in downtown Sandusky due to a report that a man was trying to force a girl into the bathroom. Officer Matthew Gezequel responded and arrested a 19-year-old man that was staying at a local men’s shelter and volunteering at the store.
Chief Lester praised the quick actions of the girl’s younger sibling and mother, which “made all the difference here and should be commended,” he said. The suspect, Andrew Jewell, was charged with Assault and Battery by the Sanilac County Prosecutor’s Office, standing mute at his arraignment less than three hours after his arrest.
He was given a $10,000 bond primarily due to a previously similar incident that occurred in Saginaw County and to protect the public. Jewell will be back in court on September 18 at 9:00 a.m. for his pre-trial. Investigation into the incident has not finished, but once it has, Prosecutor Brenda Sanford said there is a chance that different and more appropriate charges will be filed and replace the current misdemeanor charge he is being held on.
In February 2022, when he was 18, Jewell was arrested and charged with assault and battery after following a 10-year-old girl into a movie theater bathroom. In December 2022, he pleaded no contest to the charges and on January 31, 2023, was given 180 days in jail and two years of probation
Chief Lester, a founding member and president for board of directors of the Michigan House of Hope, a faith-based nonprofit that oversees the mission and store, reassured the public in a statement that the Board of Directors is reviewing policies and procedures for areas of improvement in the wake of the incident. He also apologized on behalf of the organization that the incident happened.
“Everyone involved with the Michigan House of Hope is deeply saddened by this incident,” Chief Lester said. “We have been praying for this little girl and her family since we learned of it.”
The store’s manager has been cooperating with law enforcement during the investigation, with the chief adding that the organization was aware of the social media posts placing blame on the mission and the manager. Chief Lester noted that though the store’s manager has nonviolent felonies in his past, he takes full responsibility of those actions, and was transparent about his background with the organization from the beginning.
As for the mission, Chief Lester noted that “We were aware of [the 19-year-old volunteer’s] misdemeanor conviction but didn’t know the circumstances from the previous incident in Saginaw County.” He added that the mission does not accept sex offenders, and that a background check had been done by the nonprofit before accepting the man into both the shelter and store.
The mission does not accept men outside the Thumb Area (Sanilac, Tuscola, and Huron Counties) unless they are from the Thumb or have family connections to the Thumb, with the arrested man having family in Sanilac County.
Chief Lester said via press release that organizers at the mission hope “that the bad actions of one individual does not overshadow the hundreds of men that have been changed by the love of God provided at [the] shelter,” and that the board/organizers are open to questions and concerns from the community.
