Oakland Deputy to Face Trial in Hartland Bar BrawlOakland Deputy to Face Trial in Hartland Bar Brawl

4/30/14 - An Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy has been bound over to Livingston County Circuit Court to face charges stemming from a St. Patrick’s Day bar fight. Deputy Thomas Knasiak with the Oakland Sheriff’s Highland Township substation, along with co-defendant Andrew Coleman, were arrested on resisting or obstructing a police officer on St. Patrick’s Day. 911 received a call from O’Malley’s Irish Pub on Old US 23 at about 8pm for a report of a man being assaulted. A Michigan State Police trooper was the first on the scene, and Knasiak and Coleman were pointed out as the two men involved. The pair was subdued by the trooper and a deputy from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department and taken into custody. Knasiak is now in a “non-deputized” position with the Corrections Division, and has had his gun, badge, and identification taken away pending the outcome of the internal investigation and criminal charges. He was bound over to circuit court on Tuesday and will stand trial in Judge Michael Hatty’s courtroom. (JK)