Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Tuesday

August 7, 2012

Michigan in Brief: 08/07/2012

FROM STAFF REPORTS ----

Detroit area soldier dies in Afghanistan

FRASER — A Michigan soldier killed in an explosion in Afghanistan was a "true leader" who showed his potential to fill such a role from a young age, his father said.

The Defense Department announced Friday that 25-year-old 1st Lt. Todd Lambka, of the Detroit suburb of Fraser, died Wednesday when an improvised explosive device detonated in Paktika province. Pvt. 1st Class Jesus Lopez, 22, of San Bernardino, Calif., also was killed, the military said.

Todd Lambka graduated from Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township in 2006 and graduated in 2010 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Police search for suspect in shootout

DETROIT — Police were searching Monday for a woman who wounded six passengers as they disembarked from a late-night riverboat cruise on the Detroit River.

The incident along a dock in downtown Detroit sparked a shootout about 1 a.m. Monday as another person retrieved a gun from a nearby car and fired at the woman and her boyfriend, the cruise operator said.

Two men drown in Lake Michigan

ST. JOSEPH — A Chicago doctor who devoted his career to saving the lives of children died trying to assist two young people who were struggling in the treacherous waves of Lake Michigan over the weekend.

Dr. Donald Liu, his wife and three children were enjoying a weekend getaway at a Berrien County beach on Sunday when he spotted two children in the water who were struggling.

Liu, 50, was able to help the children to safety but was pulled under by a strong current and drowned.

Another man, Anthony Joseph Kelly, 41, of Montgomery, Ill., drowned on Sunday as high winds and waves swept Michigan's west coast.

Accused of beheading dog, man surrenders

LOVELLS TOWNSHIP — Authorities in northern Michigan say a man accused of shooting and beheading a dog he termed aggressive has surrendered to face animal cruelty charges.

Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield said Monday that Seven Stuart turned himself in Sunday on two felony counts and is free on bond.

There's no phone listing for Stuart, and he couldn't be reached for comment.

The sheriff's department says the 6-year-old pit bull was killed in Lovells Township and the body was buried, then the head apparently discarded. The department says the suspect called the dog's owner, saying he killed the dog and planned to return the head later.

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