COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, MI – Parents heading west to visit their college kids in Kalamazoo often pass through Comstock Township. Now that same community is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after its deputy fire chief admitted in court he was drunk when he struck and injured an 11-year-old girl.
Michael Dyer, 63, pled no contest on September 22 to operating while intoxicated causing serious injury. Prosecutors say he blew a .155 on the breathalyzer, nearly twice the legal limit, after drinking gin and tonics at dinner on June 22.
The victim, La’Shae Parker, suffered serious injuries to her knee and hand. She needed surgery and continues to undergo therapy. Her mother told the court her daughter has been left with both physical and emotional scars.
Under a plea deal, Dyer will avoid jail. Prosecutors are recommending probation, restitution, and mandatory conditions instead of prison time. Sentencing is scheduled for November 10. The restitution amount has not yet been set.
These sentencing recommendations are in line with standard procedure, Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Getting said. “What the legal maximum is and what the likely sentence is going to be in this case, as in most felonies, is often very different,” he said.
The victims mother, Aliayah Parker-Carter was consulted before the agreement was finalized and was said to be “happy with the outcome” according to Prosecutor Getting, but she had other words when speaking to the media.
“It’s not justice for me,” she said. “He’s still out. Like, that’s not justice. He still can go pick up a liquor bottle.”
Township officials narrowly voted 4 to 3 to keep Dyer in his position as deputy fire chief, despite the crash and the pending conviction.
