ROSEVILLE, Mich. – A Roseville judge has been charged with two misdemeanors in connection with a hit-and-run crash.
Judge Catherine Steenland is charged with failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident, a one-year misdemeanor, and failure to report an accident, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Steenland has been on the bench since 2002.
"We were about to go to the grocery store," said James Nielson, who filed the complaint against Steenland.
Nielson had just picked up his daughter from dance class when he said he was waiting in the turnaround in front of Applebee's for a red Dodge Charger that wasn't moving.
"She wasn't looking," Nielson said. "I was beeping my horn."
Nielson used the outside lane to go around her.
"Sure enough, she punched it, hit my car, pushed my car into the median and took off," Nielson said.
His Chrysler 300 was banged up, but he followed the car until the woman stopped.
"I got her license plate, called 911," Nielson said. "They were sending dispatch."
But as officers were arriving, the Charger took off again. This time, Nielson didn't give chase, but some good Samaritans did. They followed Steenland to her home.
"They said she looked intoxicated and was stumbling," Nielson said.
When police arrived, a district court employee said Steenland didn't come to the door.
In 2008, Steenland was arrested for drunken driving in Ogemaw County with a .23 blood alcohol level. She was suspended 90 days from the bench without pay.
"She's supposed to be No. 1 on the scale of public safety, and she's out here hitting people?" Nielson said. "I could've been hurt. I had my daughter in the car."