| Police have arrested three of four Michigan men accused of
attacking a National Guardsman at a hotel. The Guardsman says the October 12 attack was
racially motivated. He is black and the four alleged assailants are white.
Two suspects, Ronald Alan Wilder, 32, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, and James E. Sanlin, 33,
of West Branch, Michigan, turned themselves in at the Mason County Detention Center on
Thursday, police said.
Each man was charged with second degree assault. Both men paid a $5,000 cash bond and
were released, jail personnel said.
Another suspect, Michael T. Ross, 35, of Jackson, Michigan, is in custody in Michigan,
but is fighting extradition, police said.
Authorities are searching for Timothy R. Ross, 32, of Ypsilanti.
They are accused of attacking Sgt. Roosevelt Bowles, who is assigned to an Army
National Guard Unit based in Maysville. |
The four suspects were in Maysville riding ATVs and were
charged with alcohol intoxication immediately following the fight. Bowles, who was
accompanied by another Guardsman, said the suspects Bowles said the men then started
punching him. His colleague said he joined the fight, but the men chased him away with
chairs.
Bowles then rushed to his room. When police arrived, officers said they found the four
men beating on his door. Bowles said he suffered chipped teeth and a cut under his eye,
caused by a piece of furniture used against him in the attack.
A police report was not filed until December 11, raising concerns among some area black
leaders. Northern Kentucky NAACP branch director Jerome Bowles (no relation to Sgt.
Bowles) said justice has been delayed in the case because police did not follow
"standard procedure" the night of the alleged crime.
Maysville Police Chief Van Ingram said the delay was because the Guardsmen are only in
town once a month. Ingram said the department has been working on the case since it was
reported. |
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