Police Reports By Annette Christie Citizen life saving commendations given On August 5, 2020, Berrien County Sheriff L. Paul Bailey presented citizen life saving awards to Cameron Meade and Austin Stahley. The live saving awards stemmed from the heroic actions of Stahley and Meade on June 19, 2020, when they entered the swift moving currents of the St. Joseph River in the Township of Royalton to save the life of an eight-year-old child who was struggling in the water. Stahley and Meade also attempted to save the life of an adult male, who also entered the water in an attempt to save the child. Unfortunately, the adult male did not survive this ordeal. These life saving awards were presented by Sheriff Bailey with honor and gratitude.

Coloma Township Police activity The Coloma Township Police Department had 233 complaints in the month of July. Officers made 33 arrests and performed 72 traffic stops. To help keep the area safe, they provided 422 business checks for the month. Chief Wes Smigielski will be following up with the management of Pride Care Ambulance Service. Smigielski said that on several occasions, the company has not had an ambulance in the area and the department has had to use Covert Ambulance. Smigielski said that one of the calls was a priority call of a male having a stroke that had to wait almost 28 minutes for Covert Ambulance to arrive. Smigielski will be seeking answers as to why Pride Care does not move ambulances around when the one for the Coloma-Watervliet area is tied up on another call and as a result, Coloma Township officers who have arrived first on a scene has had to wait for Medic 1 or Covert Ambulance to provide medical care. He hopes to determine why there appears to be only one ambulance to cover all of the areas around here and why they don’t have additional. Smigielski received support from the Coloma Township Board at their August meeting to reach out to Pride Care on the township’s behalf.