7 Action News has obtained police dash camera recordings made as officers responded to a hit and run crash that allegedly involved a Roseville judge.
It happened on Monday near Gratiot and McKinnon in Roseville.
The video shows that before police officers arrived a the scene, they ran the plates of both vehicles involved. They immediately recognized the name the suspect’s plate came back to as someone they knew.
“F—. Is that the hit and run vehicle? Yeah. Oh s—. F-ing kidding me. Wait. The red Charger plate? Yeah. Oh God for the love of God let it be the Chrysler,” the officers can be heard saying.
They arrive on the scene. They learn the Chrysler is the vehicle of the victim. The driver of the red Charger allegedly took off. The plate indicates the suspect's car belongs to 39th District Court Judge Catherine Steenland.
They ask the driver of the Chrysler what happened. He says he saw the other driver look at her radio then swerve into him.
“I didn’t even get a chance to turn. She just… Yes. She had to have been drunk,” said the driver. “… she looked and just kept driving. She floored it.”
The man who says he is the victim of a hit and run isn’t the only one who says he got a plate. There was a witness .
“They followed her. Is the car in the driveway? Yes.”
The officers then give their boss a heads up.
“He wants us to proceed just like we would with anybody else. We are going to go to her house. Try to make contact. If she comes to the door, we will go from there. If she doesn’t, which he doesn’t think she will, but you never know. We are going to tow her car. If it is in the driveway, or what not. And he is going to send somebody here who is more experienced,” one officer can be heard relaying to the other.
They go to the judge’s door - and knock. No one answers. They tow the car.
A 7 Action News crew knocked on the very same door tonight. A woman came to the door and peered out the window, but when she saw who was there, did not answer.
Roseville Police have handed the investigation over to Michigan State Police, since it involves a local judge.
Steenland was accused of driving under the influence in 2008. She was suspended from the bench for three months.
