TRAVERSE CITY — Jeremy D. Schwierking's roommate still can't believe it.
Schwierking, 18, died in a crash along East Front Street early Saturday. The former Rapid City resident who recently moved to Traverse City stole an idling cab on Union Street and sped off before he crashed the vehicle.
His decision to steal the cab and drive recklessly — police said he barrelled down Grandview Parkway onto East Front at more than 60 miles per hour without a seatbelt — was "very out of character," roommate Anthony Rodriguez said.
"He wasn't that type of person," Rodriguez said. "He liked to party and have a good time, but he was never the one to break the law."
The incident happened after 2 a.m. Saturday.
A cab driver came to the 100 block of South Union Street on a call and left his cab idling on the street.
"He could not find the individual who called for a ride, so he walks inside one of the businesses momentarily to see if he could find his fare," Traverse City Police Capt. Brian Heffner said. "Upon turning around, he noticed a young man climbing into his cab."
The driver tried to get Schwierking out, but he wasn't successful.
"The young man put the car in drive and started driving down Union Street," Heffner said. "The cab driver grabbed a hold of the cab and tried running next to it, pounding on the window trying to get him to stop ... once he realized he wasn't going to stop and his speed was increasing, the cab driver let go."
Responding police soon learned a cab crashed near the Holiday Inn on Front Street. Schwierking, the cab's lone occupant, crashed into a utility pole and was thrown from the vehicle.
He had no driver's license, cell phone or any other way for police to identify him, so officers released a statement with Schwierking's description in hopes that someone knew who he was.
"It's uncommon that we have to request the public's help in identifying someone," Heffner said.
Someone eventually recognized Schwierking from the description and contacted his family, who contacted police.
Schwierking was a self-described "hippie" with a great personality, Rodriguez said.
"He was a very caring person. A free spirit, really," he said. "You could trust him with anything, he was always there to talk to everyone."
He had been drinking alcohol at his home in the Town and Country mobile home park off Barlow Street, but left sometime around midnight to find a friend, Rodriguez said.
He didn't mention going to Union Street and gave no firm indication where he was going, and Rodriguez isn't aware of him being on Union Street with anyone he knew.
His friends are still trying to wrap their minds around what happened, Rodriguez said.
"No one believed it," he said. "Everyone was shocked."
Schwierking's family declined comment.
Authorities are waiting on toxicology reports to find out more about Schwierking's physical state at the time of the incident, Heffner said, but his thought process might never be known.
"We might not be able to understand why he felt the need to jump in that cab and take off," he said.
Visitation for friends and family will take place on Thursday from 4 until 7 p.m. at Reynolds Jonkhoff Funeral Home.
Funeral services will take place at the funeral home, on Friday at 2 p.m.
Region
Related Photos
-
Jeremy Schwierking crashed this van, shown at a local towing company yard. Record-Eagle/Art Bukowski
Man who died in TC cab crash a 'free spirit'
-
-
Traverse City schools officials prepare for bond
Traverse City Area Public Schools officials said they’ve learned from last year’s failed bond campaign and hear loud-and-clear what voters want in a 2013 capital improvement project proposal.
Continued ... -
Utility cuts trees beyond easements, property owners say
Lynn Tilson is trying to save 374 of her red pines from the chainsaw. Michigan Electric Transmission Company marked the trees for removal, beyond the 50-foot easement Tilson believes the utility has on either side of its power lines.
Continued ... -
Conservancy offers farmers a shorter-term option for land
For the last 30 summers, Dennis and Barb Dean traveled from their Alaska home to tend to their sweet and tart cherry orchards in Williamsburg.
Continued ... -
Elk Rapids now has authorized baccalaureate school
Elk Rapids Middle School is being recognized for adopting a world-renowned education style, and other local districts are prepared to follow suit, thanks in part to a $3 million Kellogg Foundation grant.
Continued ... -
BATA bus struck during three-vehicle accident
A Bay Area Transportation Agency bus was damaged in a three-vehicle collision at the intersection of Three Mile and Hammond Road.
Continued ... -
Benzie County home destroyed in fire
Benzonia Township Fire Department Chief John Hanmer said units responded to the fire on Thursday at about 11 a.m. He said no one was inside the Cook Road home and the occupants were at work.
Continued ... -
Eligibility issues cut short TC St. Francis baseball season
St. Francis High School’s baseball team’s season prematurely ended.
Continued ... -
Memorial Day-related services in Traverse City region
Memorial Day-related services in Traverse City region:
Continued ... - Thursday, May 23, 2013
-
Accused stalker faces more charges
A Grawn man who already is facing stalking charges is accused of breaking into the home of the female victim and attempting to take her dog.
Continued ... -
Victory for medical marijuana patients
Medical marijuana patients and advocates scored a victory after the state’s top court issued a decision on a long-running Grand Traverse County case.
Continued ... -
Parking lot argument chills Bardon's
Robin Bisel and Jean Cline licked ice cream cones at Bardon’s Wonder Freeze off Front Street and wondered how they’d maneuver through traffic when finished with their treats.
Continued ... -
Presidential Scholar has struggled with illness
Nicole “Niki” Tubacki doesn't remember much about her early childhood except for swinging outside in the sun.
Continued ... -
Man said to trade drugs for sex
A man arrested in Leelanau County for violating probation is accused of trading drugs for sexual favors with young women in Missaukee County.
Continued ... -
Car crashes into rocks near house
A Glen Arbor woman told deputies she fell asleep before she ran a stop sign and crashed her vehicle into a row of boulders near an Empire Township home.
Continued ... -
Local educators honored
The Outstanding Educator Award, sponsored by the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce and TBA Credit Union, is given annually to a handful of public, private and parochial educators in the Grand Traverse region.
Continued ... -
Man enters guilty plea in assault
A man accused of beating his live-in girlfriend in East Bay Township pleaded guilty to assault charges.
Continued ... -
Memorial Day-related services in Traverse City region
Memorial Day-related services and programs in the Traverse City region:
Continued ... -
Clearing the Record: 05/23/2013
Because of a clerk’s error, an incorrect address was listed in a news brief in the Sunday Record-Eagle.
Continued ... - Wednesday, May 22, 2013
-
Traverse City steps up parking enforcement
Barb Meredith recently had an expensive downtown Traverse City breakfast, but not from anything on the restaurant’s menu.
Continued ... -
Snyder, GOP lawmakers agree to budget targets
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and leaders of the GOP majority in the Legislature reached a budget agreement Tuesday for next fiscal year that doesn’t include an expansion of government health insurance for low income-adults and puts Michigan’s unexpected surplus toward funding roads and K-12 education.
Continued ... -
TCAPS contract talks continue
Traverse City Area Public Schools educators picketed outside the district’s main office building in a display of opposition to TCAPS administrators’ proposed collective bargaining contract.
Continued ... -
Panera Bread is on its way
A Panera Bread franchise likely will rise in Garfield Township despite what some planning officials consider a stale project design.
Continued ... -
Woman retraces father's steps to Indian marker trees
Dennis Downes traveled 200,000 miles over three decades, a journey to locate Indian trail tree markers around the Great Lakes, including two in Traverse City – one at the Civic Center and another at a Washington Street residence.
Continued ... -
Police looking into assault find 960 pot plants
Investigation into a domestic assault complaint led Antrim County authorities to a "sophisticated" marijuana grow operation and nearly 1,000 plants.
Continued ... -
Man gets prison for heroin possession
An Antrim County man found in possession of about 20 packets of heroin will spend at least 18 months in prison.
Continued ...
-
