An ATV driver ran over an 80-year-old man posting Trump signs in his yard, police say

By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN

(CNN) — An 80-year-old man putting up Trump election signs in his front yard was run over by an ATV driver during what police believe was a politically motivated crime spree in a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The victim was left in critical condition and the suspect was found dead by suicide the next day, according to police.

Local authorities in the swing state condemned political violence in the wake of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during an especially tense election year.

On Sunday evening around 5:45 p.m., a 22-year-old man driving an ATV in a Hancock neighborhood stopped in front of a house with multiple Trump election signs posted in the front yard, Hancock Police Lt. David Outinen told CNN.

The 22-year-old ripped the signs out of the lawn, threw them in the street and drove away on the ATV. Shortly after, the suspect returned on the ATV as the 80-year-old resident tried to put the signs back up in the yard. The suspect veered off the road and hit the 80-year-old from behind, Outinen said.

The 80-year-old was transported to a local hospital, where he was in critical condition, police said.

Around 7:45 p.m. on the same day, police received a report of a vandalized pickup truck displaying a “thin blue line” sticker, used to show support for law enforcement. A valve stem on one of the tires was cut, leading to a flattened tire, according to Outinen.

Police received another report of a vandalized pickup truck in the area around 8:05 p.m. A shovel was used to smash the windshield of the truck, which displayed a Trump bumper sticker. The truck was left with broken windows, smashed taillights and flattened tires, Outinen said.

Police believe the 22-year-old suspect is responsible for the incidents, after collecting video surveillance of him in all three locations, Hancock Police Chief Tami Sleeman told CNN.

The next day, police received a message from someone at an address in neighboring Quincy Township saying they wanted to “confess a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours” and asking them to “send someone to pick me up,” the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

Police say when responders arrived at the residence, they found the 22-year-old suspect had died by suicide. Authorities have not identified him. At the scene – less than 3 miles from where the 80-year-old was struck – police found the ATV and the clothes the suspect had worn during the attack on the 80-year-old man, according to the release.

Several electronic devices recovered from the residence where the suspect was found will be searched by computer forensic specialists, according to the sheriff’s office.

There is no indication the suspect knew any of the victims, and he had no prior history with the Hancock Police Department, Outinen said.

The sheriff’s office said it is working with local and state authorities, including the FBI, on the ongoing investigation.

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