Boy, 16, 'resisted being saved' after police chase, plunge into Lake St. Clair

James David Dickson | The Detroit News

Chesterfield Twp. — A 16-year-old Chesterfield Township boy's threats of suicide as he took his parents' vehicle late Sunday night ended in his successful rescue from Lake St. Clair, police said.

Just after 11:30 p.m., Chesterfield Township Police Department got a 911 call from the boy's parents, who said he had driven off in their 2018 GMC Terrain and "was making threats that he was going to kill himself," police said in a statement.

Police found the driver on 23 Mile near Nicolette. They reported they pursued him to North Avenue and 27 Mile in Lenox Township.

But at that point, police say, the boy started "driving recklessly and at high speeds, placing innocent motorists in danger" and officers stopped pursuing him.

He was spotted again in Chesterfield, and police pursued him east on 21 Mile from Interstate 94.

The boy eventually drove "off the end of 21 Mile," in the area of Jefferson and Farwell, and into Lake St. Clair.

Police jumped in after the boy's vehicle, and were quickly backed up by firefighters in water rescue gear.

As the GMC sank, police say the boy "resisted being saved."

Eventually, public safety officials pulled him from the lake and took him to the hospital for medical care.

Ballors Towing retrieved the GMC from the lake.