LANSING, Mich — Nearly three months after an early morning arrest, the case against a northern Michigan representative has been handed over to the Michigan Attorney General's office.
On Thursday, June 20, Rep. Kornelius (Neil) Friske was arrested in Lansing around 2:45 a.m. after police responded to a report of a man with a gun and possible shots fired, according to Lansing Police spokesperson Jordan Gulkis. Gulkis said the arrest was “for a felony-level offense.”
After the arrest, Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney John J. Dewane said the initial investigation was stemming from the report of a man with a gun and possible shots fired. That investigation led officers to learn about a possible sexual assault of an adult woman.
The prosecuting attorney said the Lansing Police Department submitted a warrant request to their office the day after the arrest and Dewane asked the department to continue their investigation.
Now, Dewane has referred the case to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, based on the potential that crimes were committed in multiple county jurisdictions.
"Given the statewide jurisdiction of the Attorney General, I believe their office is best situated to handle the case at this point," said in a statement Tuesday.
Michigan voters have already passed judgement on the candidate after he was defeated in the state primary election in August. Challenger Parker Fairbairn won in a landslide against Friske in the election.
Friske took to Facebook after the election to thank his supporters after Fairbairn was announced as the projected winner of the August primary election.
"I’d like to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to those who supported me and worked tirelessly in my re-election efforts," Friske wrote. "Unfortunately, we didn’t achieve the results we had all hoped for, but the people of the 107th have spoken, and now it falls upon us to accept the unfortunate outcome."
Friske only managed to garner 6,260 of the nearly 17,000 votes cast across five counties in the election, the Petosky News reports.
Friske has denied the allegations against him.
