Dashcam shows Vessar officer shooting a drunk driver who pulled a gun towards the officer
By: Dash camera video shows the moment a Vassar Police officer shot a man who had crashed his car in a ditch.
It was late August when the police officer responded to a report of the accident in Vassar Township.
The case is still being reviewed by the Tuscola County Prosecutor's office to determine if the shooting was justified.
The man who was shot continues to recover, and in the police report, it appears he doesn't realize he ever was shot.
On Aug. 28, Tuscola County Dispatch was alerted by an iPhone's crash detection service that a car crashed on Scotch Road in Vassar Township.
The first officer to arrive is Michael Dekun, who started working for the Vassar Police Department that month.
Dash camera video from his car indicates about a minute after arriving, Dekun gets out of the car to get a closer look at the crash and see if anyone is inside the car.
There is no audio available, but the police report indicates Dekun asked, "You all right there bud?"
Dekun eventually goes into the ditch as the man in the car is holding a backpack.
The report shows the man told Dekun he had a gun in the bag.
Dekun lifts the bag away from the car but then pulls out his firearm, backs out of the ditch, and the report indicates he tells the man to "drop the gun, drop the gun."
Dekun then fires three gunshots, one of the bullets striking the man in the head.
Police say the man never fired his weapon.
The police report indicates the 30-year-old man was at his grandfather's home across the street before pulling out of the driveway and crashing into the ditch across the road.
The report indicates the man's blood alcohol level was .27, more than triple the legal limit for a driver.
A state police detective interviewed the man in late October. The man indicated that he believed he was talking to the police because of an accident, and made no indication that he was aware he had ever been shot.