An inmate who jumped from an Ingham County Sheriff’s Department van at highway speed on US-127 yesterday has died from his injuries.
Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth told reporters that transport vans are equipped with a steel cage, and there is no access to the door handle. In audio provided by our media partners at WLNS-TV, the sheriff says there was no cage in this vehicle because it was also meant for use as a personnel carrier for big patrol events like MSU football games.
Wriggelsworth adds that when ordering transport vehicles, inside door handles are inoperative. This van had only been in service for about a week. The sheriff explains that “what we believe didn’t happen when this van was put into service is, that door handle wasn’t disengaged.”
Wriggelsworth says the deceased, 21-year-old Marquis Emmanuel Oliver of Lansing, was taken to Sparrow Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The Michigan State Police will conduct an independent investigation.