41-year-old Ross Sullivan, a resident of White Pigeon, was recently thwarted in his apparent attempt to break out of jail. Which, unfortunately for him, has resulted in even more charges and an even longer period behind bars. The same bars he was trying so very hard to escape from.
Open Container Just The Start Of Troubles for White Pigeon Man
According to police records, Sullivan was originally pulled over in Bronson Township by Michigan State Police because of a loud exhaust. However, once troopers were close enough to the car, they noticed an open container of beer in the vehicle. Unfortunately for Sullivan, that was only the beginning of his troubles.
A search of the car produced a package of methamphetamine, some synthetic narcotics, and a loaded 22-caliber rifle with the serial numbers ground away. Identity checks revealed that Sullivan was a parole absconder and wanted in another county. While the trooper was checking his ID, Sullivan fled the vehicle on foot. He was caught and arrested after a short chase. Sullivan was charged with multiple felonies, including OUIL third offense, resisting arrest, and his seventh charge of driving on a suspended license.
Sullivan was placed in the Branch County Jail to await trial on many charges. Some of those charges, namely the drunk driving and meth-related ones, were later dropped due to negative test results. But regardless, Sullivan had no plans to spend that much time behind bars in the Branch County Jail.
On September 1st, Branch County jail personnel overheard a conversation between Sullivan and his girlfriend. He asked the girlfriend to come and pick him up at midnight from the jail parking lot. He told her he was being released. However, he had no release scheduled.
A subsequent search of his cell revealed a rather innovative solution to incarceration. Sullivan had made a hole in one of his ceiling tiles and then disguised it with white paper stuck in place with toothpaste. Behind the hole he had gained access to the crawl space above the cells. From there he had begun to “pull apart the mortar where wire mesh goes to the top of the cell,” according to Branch County Sheriff John Pollack.
A search of Sullivan’s person revealed a number of cuts on his hands. Interviews with other inmates revealed that several of them had seen Sullivan climb up into the crawl space. He was moved to another cell and the escape attempt was thwarted.
Sullivan previously accepted a plea agreement in which he pled guilty to charges of carrying a concealed weapon in return for dropping several other charges. He is scheduled for sentencing on November 2nd. He will be required to serve out the remainder of his prior drunk driving sentence and absconding from parole in 2014.