Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Tuesday

February 7, 2012

State police honor officer with TC ties

TRAVERSE CITY — The Michigan State Police presented its Lifesaving Award to Detective Lt. Michael Anderson, who grew up in Traverse City.

Anderson, who serves in the Grand Rapids area, received the honor at a ceremony last month for his off-duty response to an Allegan County car crash.

Last June, Anderson saw a driver skid off the road into a ditch filled with water. The car rolled and caught on fire. Anderson asked other witnesses to call 911 and get a fire extinguisher. Anderson pulled the driver, who was attempting to awaken an unconscious passenger, out of the vehicle to safety. Then, he tried to put out the fire while another off-duty police officer and citizen pulled the passenger from the vehicle.

The driver later was arrested for drunken driving.

Anderson, who has family in Traverse City, joined the department in 1996.

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