2/11/14 - A jury has found a Whitmore Lake man not guilty in connection with a break-in at a Hamburg Township restaurant. After deliberating through most of the day, the Livingston County Circuit Court Jury came back with a not guilty verdict for 34-year-old Michael Scott Russell. He was charged with breaking and entering, possession of burglary tools and 3rd degree fleeing from officers for a July 9th, 2012 incident in which Hamburg Township Police responded to a burglar alarm at the Hamburg Township Coney Island and found the back door forced open. Officers spotted an SUV speeding away onto M-36 and gave chase before the SUV crashed into a railroad signal west of Island Shore Drive. Officers arrested one man at the scene while Russell and a Whitmore Lake woman fled in a stolen Jeep. They were arrested later that day in an apartment complex in Ypsilanti but the woman was never charged. Russellâs co-defendant, 29-year-old Bryan Hardy, had previously testified that he and Russell used a pry bar to enter the restaurant. Hardy previously entered a plea in the case and was ordered to spend 67 days in jail. Russell, who spent 19 months in jail awaiting trial, had faced life in prison due to his habitual offender status. (JK)
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