Homicide suspect hit by police cruiser on US-131; in hospital
WOOD TV
September 27, 2018
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Police say a man accused of killing his girlfriend in Wyoming led them on a chase along busy US-131 before he jumped out of his vehicle, exchanged gunfire with officers and was then hit by a cruiser.
Wyoming police and family members identified the homicide victim as Tia Mae Randall, a 27-year-old mother of two. Police say 33-year-old Adam Kenneth Nolin, who she was dating, is the suspect in her Thursday death.
CHASE, SHOOTING, CRASH
WOOD TV8 skycam video recorded at 10:26 a.m. shows the suspect abandoning his pickup truck, which police said had crashed and ended up facing the wrong way on northbound US-131 on the S-curve in Grand Rapids.
The suspect took off running toward the concrete median. Several cruisers had stopped, but one continued on and hit the suspect, sending him flying. Officers converged on him as he lay on the highway.
He was taken away in an ambulance. The Grand Rapids Police Department said his injuries are serious, but not considered life-threatening. He was listed in stable condition Thursday afternoon.
People who work in a building that overlooks the highway told 24 Hour News 8 their attention was drawn to the road when they heard screeching tires.
“We heard a crash. We thought it was just an accident, looked up and an individual got out of his truck, started shooting his gun," witness Mike Kavanajh recounted. "It was a little scary being so close to it, and seeing the weapon being fired was terrifying."
Officers returned fire. Neither Nolan nor any officers were actually shot.
The suspect was then hit by the cruiser. Grand Rapids police say it was one of theirs, and that the officer behind the wheel hit Nolin to stop the deadly threat.
Michigan State Police are investigating the use of force, which is standard procedure.
Northbound US-131 was shut down near the S-curve for hours after Nolin was hit as MSP was on scene. The highway reopened around 3 p.m.
THE HOMICIDE
Police had been looking for Nolin in connection to Randall's homicide, which happened at Creekside Estates Mobile Home Park in the 600 block of Spruce Lane near the intersection of Clyde Park Avenue SW and 54th Street SW.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are not yet known, but the Wyoming Department of Public Safety says Randall was killed by a single gunshot. Neighbors said officers told them she was shot in the head.
Police were called to the mobile home park shortly after 9 a.m. and used a loudspeaker to call for the suspect to come out of the home, though they would later discover he wasn't there.
"It was really scary to wake up and see that and then to have a detective come over and asking us questions and telling us that he found a woman's body in there," neighbor Peggy Gales said. "That little corner, it's like we're family almost. So to get up and see this, it's like, wow."
Randall, Gales said, was quiet and shy. Her family members declined to comment Thursday, saying they were too devastated to speak.
Neighbors said her two children, both under the age of 7, were at school when she was killed. They have since been taken into the custody of Children's Protective Services.
Schools near Creekside Estates were on lockdown as a precaution Thursday morning. After nearly two hours, the lockdown was lifted and all buildings resumed normal activities.
SUSPECT'S HISTORY
Nolin has a criminal history dating back to 2007 that includes misdemeanor charges of assault, vandalism, and driving without a license or with multiple licenses. He was considered armed and dangerous while he was on the run.
Creekside residents said Nolin and Randall had lived there at least three years.
"I have never heard them fight," Gales said.
She said she knew Nolin as a good neighbor who took care of his kids and Randall.
"I have never known Adam to get violent at anybody," Gales said. "To hear that he was even involved in this is so shocking."
But another woman whose daughter has children with Nolin said she wasn't surprised when she saw his mug shot on the news.
"It seems like the movies when you see your daughter's ex-boyfriend on the police chase," Jackie Miller told 24 Hour News 8 Thursday evening.
Miller said Nolin repeatedly abused her daughter before their relationship ended more than a decade ago. The daughter told 24 Hour News 8 via Facebook Messenger that Nolin had abused her, at one point breaking her ribs. She said she has a restraining order against him. Court records show that the couple had at least one domestic dispute in 2009.
"He was violent with my daughter," Miller said. "He's not a nice guy by any stretch of the imagination."
"Adam is a con man who will take whatever he can get for as long as he can get it," she added, "and when things don't go his way, that's when he turns violent."
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