Man charged in high-speed chase

ESCANABA - A Hancock man was officially charged with drunk driving, fleeing police, and attempting to resist police during his arraignment in Delta County District Court Wednesday. The charges relate to a high-speed chase with police Sunday in Bark River Township.

Paul Karl Pouttu, 24, was traveling east on U.S. 2 when Michigan State Police from the Gladstone Post clocked him driving 89 miles per hour in the 55-mile-per-hour zone at 12:15 a.m.

When troopers tried to stop the vehicle, Pouttu attempted to elude police in a high-speed chase. Shortly after, he lost control of his pickup truck and went in the ditch. Pouttu then exited the vehicle and tried to run from troopers, who apprehended him.

Pouttu and three people in the vehicle were not injured.

Pouttu is free after posting a $2,500 cash bond. He faces up to two years in prison on the felony charge of fleeing and eluding police. The drunk driving charge is a 93-day misdemeanor and the attempt to resist police is a one-year misdemeanor.