St. Joseph County Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Two Misdemeanors for Driving Drunk at a 100 mph and Carrying Concealed Weapon While Drunk
Channel 3 News in Michigan reported that St. Joseph County Sheriff Mark Lillywhite, 47, was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges in Kalamazoo County in connection with an incident in which he was charged with operating while intoxicated and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence after crashing into the rear-end of another vehicle on US-131 on February 26.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 26, 2023. It was around 2:20 a.m., and Lillywhite, a resident of Three Rivers, was speeding down US-131, pushing speeds of almost 100 mph when he smashed into the backend of another vehicle on the road. The impact was so intense that the other vehicle rolled, and both it and Lillywhite’s SUV careened off the road.
When Michigan State Police arrived, they found Lillywhite, and they could tell he was drunk just by observing him. He was slurring his words, his eyes were bloodshot, he was unsteady, and he wasn’t making much sense when he spoke. The SUV he was driving smelled of alcohol as well. When they questioned Lillywhite about what happened, the police said, the sheriff told them that he wasn’t the one driving the car, despite the fact that he was the only one in it. He told officers that he didn’t know who was driving his car at the time of the crash. But he also refused to take a roadside test or give them any information about the accident. Data from the SUV indicated that not only was he going almost 100 mph but that he hadn’t even applied the brakes in the moments before impact. Those in the car that was hit claimed that his headlights weren’t on. Somehow, none of them were seriously injured. Lillywhite was taken to a hospital to have his blood drawn, was arrested, and soon released.
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