7-year-old, others assaulted outside Michigan Renaissance Festival

GROVELAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Three people from Garden City, including a 7-year-old girl, were assaulted by a man outside the Michigan Renaissance Festival on Saturday, deputies said.

The attack took place just after 6 p.m. in the 12000 block of Dixie Highway in Groveland Township, according to a Sunday report issued by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.

The man responsible, a 26-year-old from St. Clair Shores, was arrested, deputies said.

The situation started when the St. Clair Shores man started using profanities on the pedestrian trail connecting the north and south parking lots, according to the report from officials.

A 30-year-old Garden City man brought this to the man’s attention and asked him to stop swearing, deputies said.

The man responded by shoving the victim down. A second victim, a 30-year-old woman, tried to intervene, but she was held back by the neck and then pushed to the ground herself, officials said.

A daughter to one of the victims was shoved to the ground too, and she fell into a shallow ditch.

Once the Garden City man was able to get back onto his feet, he pushed the attacker into a wooded area and the two got into a physical fight, deputies said.

When deputies were called to the scene, witnesses pointed them in the direction of the fight.

When an official caught up with the group and tried to detain the St. Clair Shores man, the man responded by punching the deputy and then running away, officials said.

The deputy ran after the man and told him to stop, but he wouldn’t. The official used a stun gun on the man, but he continued to fight and resist until additional deputies arrived. He was then taken into custody.

The man is now at the Oakland County Jail, accused of assault and battery and resisting and obstructing a police officer. Investigators suspect he was under the influence of some kind of drug.

The three victims were treated for minor injuries but didn’t need to be hospitalized.