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Finally Last riot suspect surrenders to police
Posted: Tuesday November 02, 1999 05:13 PM
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The final suspect in the riots that followed Michigan State's loss in the NCAA Final Four has surrendered to police. Some of the 132 rioters or suspects still must be tried or sentenced. And prosecutors continue a court battle for 11 media organizations' unpublished and unaired riot footage. But Monday's arraignment of DeAndre Wells, 20, of East Lansing on two misdemeanor charges marks the end of the investigation for now. "We've exhausted all tips and leads," East Lansing police Lt. Tom Johnstone told the Lansing State Journal. Police say as many as 10,000 people ran through the streets of East Lansing and campus March 27-28 after Michigan State University lost to Duke University in the NCAA Final Four. The city's damages were estimated at $238,433. As of Monday, 132 people have been arraigned in connection with the riot. Half are charged with misdemeanors and the rest with felonies. Seventy-one were Michigan State students. Only seven of 72 cases the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office has handled are unresolved. Sixty-three people pleaded guilty and two had charges dismissed. The East Lansing City Attorney's Office, which prosecuted 50 misdemeanors, did not have a record Monday of how many of its defendants had been sentenced or found innocent. Wells said police identified him from a video tape. He said hew was drinking on the street that night. And he said he ignored the police department letter before returning to Tennessee State University in August, where he studied child development. "I tend sometimes to run away from my problems,' Wells said. "We just got caught up in the action. We were just kids having fun." He was charged with underage drinking and drinking in public. The underage drinking charge is punishable by up to a $150 fine and the drinking in public charge by up to 90 days in jail. He plans to resolve the charges and transfer to Michigan State in January.
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