Wyandotte Police Chase Motorcycle Death: Michigan Law When a Pursuit Ends in a Crash

By Koussan Law
Published October 28, 2026, 2:35 p.m. ET

Short answer: An 18-year-old motorcyclist died after a Wyandotte police pursuit ended in a crash on a dead-end street in Riverview late on Thursday, October 15, 2026, and Michigan State Police are investigating. Under Michigan law, a city is generally not liable just because its officers chased someone; the Michigan Supreme Court has said the motor vehicle exception to governmental immunity is not met when the police vehicle did not hit the fleeing vehicle or physically force it off the road. That makes one question decisive here: police say the rider lost control, while WXYZ reports that video appears to show a Wyandotte police vehicle hitting the motorcycle. A separate Michigan statute can bar injury and death claims that arise during the commission of a felony, including flight from police, unless an exception applies, so the facts the investigation settles will matter more than usual.

What happened

According to WDIV, WWJ Newsradio 950 and WXYZ, citing Wyandotte police, officers received reports of a motorcycle traveling over 100 mph on Biddle Avenue on Thursday night. Officers tried to stop the motorcycle, which had no license plate, near Biddle Avenue and Spruce Street. Police said the rider did not stop, reached speeds over 100 mph and at one point entered oncoming traffic. The pursuit continued south into Riverview, where police said the rider turned onto a dead-end road, lost control and crashed. He was taken to a hospital and died. Michigan State Police are investigating. WXYZ later reported that two Wyandotte officers have been placed on paid administrative leave and described video of the final moments of the chase.

What we know so far

• The pursuit began in Wyandotte on Biddle Avenue after reports of a motorcycle traveling over 100 mph; WXYZ reports the initial report came from Ecorse police (WDIV; WXYZ).
• WWJ reports the pursuit began around 10 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2026 (WWJ Newsradio 950).
• Officers attempted a stop near Biddle Avenue and Spruce Street; the motorcycle had no license plate (WDIV; WWJ).
• Police say the rider fled at more than 100 mph and entered oncoming traffic; Wyandotte Police Chief Archie Hamilton told FOX 2, "It was actually a short pursuit" (FOX 2 Detroit).
• Police say the rider lost control on a dead-end road in Riverview and crashed; WXYZ identifies the street as Payne Street (WDIV; WXYZ).
• The rider died at a hospital. WXYZ, citing his family, reports he was 18; WWJ reported the same age but said police had not confirmed it (WXYZ; WWJ).
• WWJ reports no one else was hurt (WWJ).
• Michigan State Police are investigating the pursuit and crash (WDIV; WWJ; WXYZ).
• WXYZ reports two Wyandotte officers have been placed on paid administrative leave while the state police investigate (WXYZ).
• WXYZ reports that video appears to show the rider slowing near train tracks before being hit by a Wyandotte police vehicle. Asked about the end of the pursuit, the chief said, "So, I'm not going to get into the actual ending of the pursuit," and WXYZ reports police stand by their account that the rider lost control and crashed (WXYZ).

What has not been established

• Whether a police vehicle made contact with the motorcycle, and if so, when, how and whether it was intentional. The police account and WXYZ's description of the video differ, and the state police investigation is not complete.
• Why the two officers were placed on leave. WXYZ reports only that they are on leave while the state police investigate.
• The speeds of the motorcycle and the police vehicles at the end of the pursuit, and what dash camera, body camera and vehicle data show.
• What the Wyandotte Police Department's pursuit policy requires and whether it was followed.
• Who owned the motorcycle, whether it was registered and insured, and why it had no plate.
• Whether any prosecutor will review the officers' conduct. No charges against anyone have been reported.

Does it matter under Michigan law whether the police car hit the motorcycle?

Yes. It may be the most important fact in the case.

The motor vehicle exception and the contact rule

Michigan cities and their police departments are generally immune from tort claims when performing a governmental function, under MCL 691.1407. One exception, MCL 691.1405, makes a governmental agency liable for bodily injury "resulting from the negligent operation" of a motor vehicle it owns by one of its officers or employees.

In Robinson v. City of Detroit, 462 Mich 439 (2000), the Michigan Supreme Court read that language narrowly in police chase cases. The Court held that plaintiffs cannot satisfy the "resulting from" requirement where the pursuing police vehicle did not hit the fleeing vehicle or otherwise physically force it off the road or into another vehicle or object. It also held that the decision to pursue is not itself "operation" of a vehicle.

That is why the conflicting accounts matter. If the evidence shows only a pursuit that ended when the rider lost control, Robinson generally keeps the motor vehicle exception out of reach. If the evidence shows a police vehicle struck the motorcycle, the contact requirement Robinson describes would be met, and the questions shift to whether the officer's driving met the standard of ordinary care and whether other defenses apply.

Claims against the officers themselves

Individual officers are judged by a different and harder standard. Under MCL 691.1407(2), a government employee acting within the scope of authority is immune unless the conduct amounts to gross negligence, defined as "conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results," and that conduct is "the proximate cause" of the injury. Robinson held that "the proximate cause" means "the one most immediate, efficient, and direct cause" preceding the injury, and in that case found the fleeing drivers, not the pursuing officers, to be that cause. Ray v. Swager, 501 Mich 52 (2017) explains how courts make that call. Whether video of the final seconds changes that analysis is a fact question the investigation will inform.

Can a claim go forward when the person who died was fleeing police?

Michigan has a statute aimed squarely at this situation, and it is not well known.

The felony bar in MCL 600.2955b

Under MCL 600.2955b, added in 2000, a court "shall dismiss with prejudice" a claim for bodily injury or death, and order the plaintiff to pay each defendant's costs and actual attorney fees, if the injury or death occurred during the commission of a felony or flight from one. The statute covers a conviction, or acts that the finder of fact finds by clear and convincing evidence constitute all the elements of a felony. The definition of "plaintiff" includes an estate.

Fleeing a police officer after a signal to stop is a felony under MCL 257.602a. Fourth-degree fleeing and eluding is punishable by up to 2 years; third-degree, which applies when, among other things, the violation results in a collision or part of it occurs where the speed limit is 35 mph or less, is punishable by up to 5 years. The offense has elements of its own, including that the officer was in uniform and the officer's vehicle was identified as an official police vehicle.

The force exception

The statute has a limit that matters if a police vehicle made contact. Under MCL 600.2955b(2), when the injury or death "resulted from force," the court shall not apply the dismissal rule to a claim against the defendant who caused it unless the court finds that defendant used a degree of force a reasonable person would believe appropriate to prevent injury to the defendant or others, or to prevent or respond to the commission of a felony.

Put plainly: if the rider simply crashed while fleeing, the felony bar is likely to be the central defense. If a police vehicle struck him, a court would first have to decide whether that was force and whether a reasonable person would have considered that degree of force appropriate in the circumstances. None of those findings has been made.

Could federal civil rights law apply?

Possibly, and again the contact question drives the answer. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable seizures. In Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593 (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a seizure occurs only when there is a governmental termination of freedom of movement "through means intentionally applied." The Court contrasted a suspect who loses control and crashes during a chase, which is not a seizure, with a pursuing cruiser that sideswipes the fleeing car and causes the crash, which would be.

Whether a seizure was reasonable is a separate question. In Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007), the Court held that an officer's attempt to end a dangerous high-speed chase that threatened bystanders by forcing the fleeing car off the road was reasonable, even though it placed the driver at risk of serious injury or death. The Court also held that when video blatantly contradicts one side's account, a court should not adopt that account at summary judgment. Video is likely to be central here for the same reason.

Does Michigan no-fault insurance pay anything?

It might, but the answer depends on facts not yet public. Motorcycles are treated differently from cars under the no-fault act. Under MCL 500.3114(5) (see our MCL 500.3114 explainer), a motorcyclist hurt in an accident "that shows evidence of the involvement of a motor vehicle" claims personal protection insurance benefits first from the insurer of the owner or registrant of the motor vehicle involved, then from that vehicle operator's insurer, then from the motorcyclist's own motor vehicle insurer. Whether a police vehicle was involved in that sense is a question in itself.

MCL 500.3113 lists people who are not entitled to these benefits, including a person who owned or registered the motorcycle involved when the required security was not in effect, and a person willingly using a vehicle or motorcycle that was taken unlawfully. Reports say the motorcycle had no license plate; who owned it and whether it was registered and insured have not been reported.

What the public record shows

A search of federal court dockets on CourtListener on October 16, 2026, found no lawsuit filed over this pursuit. Michigan State Police have not released findings, and no police report, video or pursuit policy has been made public in connection with the crash.

Evidence that matters and how fast it can disappear

• Police video. Dash camera and body camera recordings from each officer, and any footage of the end of the pursuit. WXYZ's description of video makes this the central evidence.
• Vehicle data. Location and speed records for each police vehicle, and any crash data the vehicles stored.
• Radio and dispatch. Recordings of radio traffic, including any supervisor instruction to continue or end the pursuit.
• The pursuit policy and any internal review. The written policy in effect on October 15 and any review the department conducts.
• Private video. Doorbell and business cameras along Biddle Avenue, West Jefferson and the Riverview dead-end street. Private systems may be overwritten.
• The motorcycle itself. Its condition and any marks of contact. Physical evidence can be altered or lost once a vehicle is released or repaired.

Records held by public bodies can be requested under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, though an agency may withhold some records while an investigation is open. In civil litigation, Michigan courts can sanction a party that fails to preserve evidence, and juries may be told they can infer that missing evidence was unfavorable.

Who could be legally responsible

• The City of Wyandotte, under MCL 691.1405, only if a city-owned vehicle was negligently operated and the death "resulted from" that operation in the sense Robinson requires, and only if the felony bar in MCL 600.2955b does not end the claim.
• An individual officer, only if the officer's conduct was grossly negligent and was "the proximate cause" of the death, or, under federal law, if an intentional seizure was unreasonable and no immunity defense applies.
• The owner of the motorcycle, under the owner liability statute, MCL 257.401 (explainer), would matter mainly to claims by anyone else hurt. WWJ reports no one else was hurt.
• No-fault insurers, for benefits, depending on vehicle involvement, ownership, registration and insurance.

Michigan also reduces damages by a person's own share of fault, and in auto cases bars noneconomic damages when the injured person is more than 50 percent at fault, under MCL 500.3135(2)(b) (explainer).

Michigan deadlines that apply

Deadlines depend on the facts and the defendant. The Michigan injury deadline calculator gives a starting point.

Questions people are asking

Can you sue the police for a crash during a chase in Michigan? Sometimes. The agency can be liable under the motor vehicle exception only if its vehicle's negligent operation produced the injury in the way Robinson requires, which generally means the police vehicle hit the fleeing vehicle or physically forced it off the road. Individual officers are liable only for gross negligence that is "the proximate cause" of the injury.

Does it matter that the person who died was the one fleeing? It can matter a great deal. MCL 600.2955b requires dismissal of an injury or death claim that arose during the commission of a felony or flight from one, unless an exception applies. One exception concerns injuries that resulted from force a reasonable person would not have considered appropriate.

Who decides whether the police car hit the motorcycle? The Michigan State Police investigation will gather the evidence first. In a civil case, a court or jury decides disputed facts, and video is often the most important evidence.

Is a police chase itself enough to make a city liable? No. The Michigan Supreme Court held in Robinson that the decision to pursue is not "operation" of a vehicle, and a pursuit alone generally does not satisfy the motor vehicle exception.

Why would officers be placed on leave? WXYZ did not report a reason for the leave. Administrative leave is not a finding of wrongdoing, and no finding about the officers' conduct has been reported.

If you are dealing with a situation like this

Crashes involving police vehicles raise questions that ordinary crash claims do not: immunity, the contact rule, the felony bar, federal civil rights law and how no-fault coverage applies to a motorcycle. A free consultation can clarify which of those rules apply to a particular set of facts, what evidence should be requested now, and which deadlines run first. Koussan Law handles government vehicle accident, motorcycle accident and wrongful death claims across Michigan. Our guide to Michigan wrongful death claims explains who may bring a claim and what damages the law allows, and our analysis of a police car crash in Memphis explains how Michigan treats crashes with emergency vehicles more broadly. Call (313) 800-0000 or request a free consultation. We have offices in Detroit, Dearborn Heights and Marquette and speak English, Spanish and Arabic.

Sources

1. WXYZ 7 News Detroit, "Teen motorcyclist dies after high-speed Wyandotte police pursuit ends in crash downriver," October 16, 2026. Link
2. WDIV ClickOnDetroit, "Motorcyclist killed in high-speed crash while fleeing from Wyandotte police," October 16, 2026. Link
3. WWJ Newsradio 950, "Motorcycle rider flees Wyandotte police at 100 mph, killed in crash," October 16, 2026. Link
4. FOX 2 Detroit, "Motorcyclist dies in crash, leading police on chase of speeds over 100 mph Downriver," October 16, 2026. Link

Primary law cited:

• MCL 691.1405, MCL 691.1407, MCL 600.2955b, MCL 257.602a, MCL 500.3113, MCL 500.3114, MCL 500.3135, MCL 500.3145, MCL 257.401, MCL 600.5805, MCL 600.5852, MCL 600.6431
• Robinson v. City of Detroit, 462 Mich 439 (2000)
• Ray v. Swager, 501 Mich 52 (2017)
• Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593 (1989)
• Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007)