ANN ARBOR, MI - A 33-year-old Canton man is facing criminal charges for driving on a closed portion of Geddes Avenue in Ann Arbor while the road was under construction, an incident officials believe caused a

massive sewage spill.

The city attorney's office has authorized two misdemeanor charges against Bradley Borsos for reckless driving and failing to report an accident, said Tom Kent, a senior assistant city attorney who oversees criminal prosecutions.

The city also has taken steps to notify Borsos and his insurance carrier about the likelihood of a lawsuit being filed, Kent said.

"We are waiting a reasonable period of time to hear back from his representative to discuss any pre-suit resolution after they have had an opportunity to review the police report," Kent said on Friday, Dec. 2.

"If that does not happen, it is our intention to pursue a civil remedy against Mr. Borsos in Circuit Court for damages associated with the sewage spill."

Under the Freedom of Information Act, The Ann Arbor News and MLive obtained a copy of a 29-page police report that details the Sept. 17 incident in which Borsos acknowledges he disobeyed road closure signs and drove down Geddes Avenue while trying to get home after a University of Michigan football game.

Borsos said he was just trying to take his usual shortcut out of town, one that he used to get home after other Michigan football games this season despite the road being closed. But after the game against Colorado on Sept. 17, when he tried once again to get through the construction zone, he said, his Chrysler 300 became stuck in the mud and he had to call for a tow truck.

In an interview on Friday, Borsos said he was unaware the city was pursuing criminal charges in the matter.

"It's quite strange to me," he said, acknowledging he did knowingly disobey the road closure signs, but he said the signs had been up for the past year and he was able to get through before. "I was trying to take a shortcut and get home from the game, and apparently it was a bad shortcut."

He said he thinks the incident has been blown out of proportion and he doesn't think he caused any sewage spill.

"It's the stupidest thing in the world. I can't believe it escalated to this," he said, expressing frustration about the situation.

Records show Triangle Towing responded, and multiple people witnessed the incident. At least one witness took photos, which were provided to police.

Police used the photos to identify the license plate number for the Chrysler 300 and tracked down Borsos, who acknowledged he was the driver. His brother was in the car with him, police reports indicate.

City officials believe the Sept. 17 incident caused a blockage in a sewer line that was sitting shallow and awaiting a permanent patch.

When construction workers returned to the site on the morning of Monday, Sept. 19, they discovered a sewage spill.

An initial police report filed on Sept. 21 explains the Geddes Avenue project included sewer line replacement and repair, and the area where the incident occurred, between Geddes Ridge and Hickory Lane, was closed to traffic.

"There is a detour in place and posted for the project, along with signs and barricades throughout the project," the police report states.

"At the intersection of Arlington and Geddes, there are barricades and detour signs along with Construction Traffic Only posted. As vehicles reach the curve at Geddes Ridge, there again are barricades, along with various pieces of large construction equipment."

Within that work zone, crews had been working on a 10-inch sewer line and a connection to a 36-inch line, the report states.

"With the construction of this sewer line and connection, a by-pass had been set along the inside shoulder area. This connection was reported to have been handling the sewer flow," the report states.

"Crews had set drainage stone around the pipe and filter fabric over the exposed pipe end. This area was a naturally lower area along the road edge."

The report indicates that's where crews discovered a backup and overflow of sewage when they returned to work two days later on Sept. 19.

"Upon checking this sewer pipe connection, they discovered footprint tracks visible in the mud and the exposed pipe end was pushed down and covered with gravel. The pipe was clogged and not draining the sewer flow correctly," the report states.

As crews tried to address the problem, they started to pump out the overflow from the area, the report states.

City sewer and drainage crews arrived and the cleanup began, the report states, noting the general contractor superintendent estimated about 600,000 gallons of sewage was pumped into the Huron River.

The city acknowledged in a Sept. 21 update on the incident that sewage spilled into an area along the road that was excavated for a new retaining wall, and construction workers who arrived on the morning of Sept. 19 turned on pumps that normally keep the pit free of groundwater.

"In this case, however, doing so also unknowingly moved sewage from the excavation into the Huron River," the city acknowledged. "Later investigation revealed that sewage had overflowed the excavation into the river. Once the city inspector realized what was going on, the pumps were shut down. The city does not know the exact amount of sewage that was released, though estimates that it was no more than 600,000 gallons."

Keith Creighton, the general contractor superintendent, and Brian Nollar, a civil engineer with the city's project management unit, both spoke with police.

"I asked both Nollar and Creighton, what property had been damaged, and they stated that the sewer, which was under repair at the time and working with a by-pass, was not damaged, but that it was clogged by gravel and the 'fabric cover,' which then resulted in the pipe backing up, causing the overflow," Detective Geoffrey Spickard wrote in the initial police report.

Witnesses who observed the Sept. 17 incident in which Borsos' vehicle was stuck told police they saw several other vehicles travel into the construction area after the U-M football game, passing the posted road closure signs, only to be forced to turn around as there was no way to pass the work zone between Geddes Ridge and Hickory Lane.

In an interview, Borsos described a similar situation, saying several other vehicles tried to get through while he was stuck and had to turn around.

Witnesses told police they observed a Chrysler 300 backing up in an attempt to turn around, backing into a low point that was partially filled with mud and gravel, and that's when the vehicle became stuck.

As the driver began to "rock the vehicle back and fourth" to get out of the low and wet area, the vehicle became stuck further, one witness told police.

The witness went on to describe a man wearing U-M gear taking his shoes off and rolling up his pants as he walked through the mud. Police determined that was consistent with the discovery of bare footprints at the scene.

According to witness accounts, both the driver and the passenger were walking around and trying to get the vehicle unstuck. One witness told police she saw them looking into the window of a backhoe on the site.

That observation, combined with a claim by the project superintendent that the backhoe had been moved over the weekend, prompted police to investigate whether Borsos or his brother tried using the backhoe, but Borsos denied it, saying he wouldn't even know how to operate one.

Police initially classified the incident as "accidental property damage," while they continued to investigate the matter. On Sept. 28, Spickard made contact with Triangle Towing, which confirmed it towed Borsos' car from the Geddes Avenue construction zone shortly before 9:30 p.m. on the night in question.

The next day, Spickard and another detective, Andrew Stephenson, tried to track down Borsos at an address in Canton. When they didn't find him there, they went to a Waterford address listed on the towing invoice.

Borsos answered the door and acknowledged he had gotten his car stuck in the construction zone on Geddes Avenue while he and his brother were trying to get out of town quickly after the football game, the police report states.

"I asked Bradley Borsos it he saw any of the numerous signs that indicated that the road was closed due to the construction and he said yes, but that he knows that oftentimes in construction zones that even though the signs say road closed, there is a way to get through," the report states.

Borsos went on to describe to police how he had difficulty getting his car out of the mud, the report states. When police asked if he ever attempted to use the backhoe, Borsos said neither he nor his brother have any experience operating one and would not know how to start it, the report states.

If he or his brother ever looked into the window of the backhoe, Borsos said, it was only to see if they could move it out of the way, as it was close enough to his car that it was impeding his forward movement to get out of the mud, the report states.

Borsos said his brother knocked on the door of a home in the area and asked to borrow a shovel so they could try to dig the car out, the report states.

Police asked if Borsos knew he might have run over some pipes and damaged them, the report states.

"He stated that he was not aware of it, but he did notice that there appeared to be more water on the ground as time went on while he was stuck there than when he first got stuck," the report states. "Borsos stated that he was stuck there for approximately two hours or more from the time that he first entered into that area of the construction zone until the tow truck arrived at approximately 9:30. Borsos stated that when the tow truck driver arrived and looked at his car stuck in the mud, they were standing near the car and the tow truck driver commented, 'It smells like somebody took a s*** right here,' due to a very noticeable odor."

That's when Spickard told Borsos the odor they smelled was raw sewage because it is believed his car had damaged the sewer line in the construction zone, causing sewage to start spilling onto the roadway, the report states.