Police say the suspect who crashed into the Flagstar Bank on Niles Avenue in St. Joseph on Friday was a fugitive with a federal probation violation warrant and a bench warrant out of Berrien County. Around 3 p.m. Friday, Michigan State Police troopers tried to pull over a tan SUV driven by 32-year-old Therron Darrell Perry of Benton Harbor by the Shell station on Niles when they noticed he had an obstruction hanging from his rearview. They also recognized the vehicle from a briefing report that showed the warrants out for Perry. He took off, and police say they followed. Perry’s SUV crashed into a vehicle that was turning into the Dairy Queen and then crashed into the Flagstar Bank. No injuries were reported by the driver of the second vehicle, Flagstar employees, or its customers. Perry then took off on foot, but police caught him after a short chase. He was arraigned Monday on charges of felony resisting and obstructing, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, and failure to stop following a crash.
