FRUITLAND TOWNSHIP — A veteran Chicago-area police officer and his nephew have been charged with assault after allegedly roughing up two employees at Michigan's Adventure amusement park, and resisting officers once lodged in the Muskegon County Jail.

Lance Adams III, of the Elgin Police Department, was allegedly intoxicated and belligerent on Saturday night when he attempted to ride the amusement park's "Ripcord" with his nephew, who is a criminal justice student from South Bend, Ind., according to a Muskegon County Sheriff's Office report.

According to Elgin Police Chief Jeffrey Swoboda, Adams has been a police officer at the department for 11 years.

Swoboda said Tuesday that he was only recently notified of Adams' arrest, so he's still in the process of reviewing the sheriff's reports.

“Anytime an officer is arrested, it's troubling,” Swoboda said. “We will be looking into this.”

The sheriff's report details that Adams clearly stated he was an “off duty” police officer when approached at the scene after amusement park employees called 911. The report says both Adams and Smith "appeared to have been drinking." Results of breath tests were not available Tuesday.

The first assault victim, Brandon Becker, a 29-year-old “rides manager” for the park, told officers that Adams, 50, and Jamie Terrell Smith, 23, approached the Ripcord ride, but were denied entrance due to park rules that indicated anyone intoxicated cannot go on a ride, the report said.

Ripcord is a ride that features a 180-foot tethered free fall at high speeds, according to the park's website.

When the manager told Adams and Smith to “get back from the entrance,” the men refused, the report said.

“Brandon states that (Adams) grabbed him by the neck and pushed him. Brandon states as he was trying to get away from Lance, the other guy, Jamie, hit him in the forehead with a closed fist," a deputy said in the report.

Another park worker tried to intervene and Adams shoved him as well, the report said.

Authorities approached a “very hostile” Adams at the scene, at which time Adams stated, “I am an off-duty police officer,” according to the report.

When the deputy explained why he was detaining Adams, he became enraged, the report said, but put his hands behind his back and allowed the deputy to handcuff him.

“Lance began to swear and use vulgar language toward me,” the deputy said. “While on the walk back (to the patrol car), Lance said to me, 'You better write your report right — I's dotted and T's crossed — because I'm coming after you.'”

Adams and Smith were both lodged on simple assault charges and bonded out of jail some time over the weekend.

However, the report indicates Adams continued to cause problems once at the jail, swore at deputies and refused to cooperate when deputies attempted to remove him from his cell. He “resisted” the deputies' attempt to move him and “refused to roll over and comply with commands to give us his hands so that he could be handcuffed,” the report said.

Deputies requested that Adams also be charged with resisting and obstructing officers as a result.

The report has been turned over to the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office which will determine whether the men will face any additional charges.

Email: hpeters@muskegonchronicle.com