Police:
By The Associated Press
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Jul 14, 2016, 1:23 PM ET
A man accused of killing five people when he plowed his speeding pickup truck into a group of Michigan bicyclists had taken pain pills and muscle relaxers less than two hours earlier, according to police reports.
Charles Pickett Jr., 50, was initially charged with second-degree murder in the June 7 crash in Kalamazoo County. Charges of driving while intoxicated causing death were added later.
The reports were obtained on Wednesday by the Kalamazoo Gazette ( http://bit.ly/29RMIkO ) from the Kalamazoo County sheriff's department under the Freedom of Information Act. They say investigators also found marijuana, methamphetamine, beer and liquor in his truck.
A prosecutor said earlier that Pickett was under the influence of drugs, but the release of the police reports provides the first details of what he had taken.
A state police report said the truck was going at least 58 mph in an area with a 35 mph speed limit.
The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment Thursday from defense lawyer Alan Koenig.
Pickett's girlfriend told police he had been acting erratically the weekend before the crash and that he wouldn't let her leave their hotel room in Kalamazoo County's Oshtemo Township. According to the reports, he was upset by their relationship and the death of a cousin.
She told investigators he took 16 to 20 muscle relaxers about an hour and a half before the crash, then took 10 painkillers. According to the report, Pickett told her: "I've taken this much before," and: "I'd be better off dead."
A judge has granted Koenig's request for a mental-health exam to determine whether Pickett understands the charges and can assist his attorney. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. Besides the five deaths, four bicyclists were injured when they were struck from behind on a two-lane road in Cooper Township, 160 miles from Chicago.
According to the police reports, Pickett's pickup traveling down the right shoulder, not on the road, when he hit the bicyclists. A witness told police he never saw brake lights come on from the truck.
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Information from: Kalamazoo Gazette, http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo
Driver downed handfuls of pain pills, muscle relaxers before hitting cyclists, girlfriend says
By Emily Monacelli | emonacel@mlive.com
on July 13, 2016 at 7:55 PM, updated July 14, 2016 at 9:19 AM
KALAMAZOO, MI — Within two hours of running down nine bicyclists, Charles Pickett Jr. took handfuls of pain pills and muscle relaxers, police reports say.
Police also reported finding marijuana and methamphetamine in his truck after the June 7 crash.
The reports were obtained Wednesday by the Kalamazoo Gazette from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office under the Freedom of Information Act.
Pickett is charged with five counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, on top of five counts of second-degree murder, for the crash that killed five members of the Chain Gang bicycle group. Four others club members were injured.
The group was taking its weekly, 28-mile ride on North Westnedge Avenue near Markin Glen County Park in Cooper Township when they were run down from behind.
Pickett, 50, also faces four charges of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, specifically operating under the influence of a controlled substance.
Erratic behavior
Pickett's girlfriend told police he had been acting erratically the weekend of June 4-6. He wouldn't let her leave a hotel room they were sharing, she said, and the erratic behavior continued June 7 after Pickett attended a cousin's funeral, a police report said.
The girlfriend, whose name was not released, said she was afraid to separate from Pickett that day because of his behavior. Pickett was upset because he thought he would never see her again, she told police.
After he returned her to a hotel in Oshtemo Township around 5 p.m., Pickett dumped 16 to 20 Flexeril pills into the palm of his hand, then downed them with some Mountain Dew, the report states. He then dumped 10 Tramadol pills into the palm of his hand and also swallowed them with the Mountain Dew.
"She stated to him 'What the hell are you doing? Now you've got to drive. That's real smart Charlie,'" the police report said.
It said Pickett responded, "I've taken this much before," and then said, "I'd be better off dead."
Tramadol is a narcotic-like pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe pain, according to drugs.com. The extended-release form of tramadol is for around-the-clock treatment of pain. This form of tramadol is not for use on an as-needed basis for pain.
Ciclobenzaprine, the generic form of Flexeril, is a muscle relaxant that works by blocking nerve impulses (or pain sensations) that are sent to the brain. According to drugs.com, it is used to treat such things as chronic Myofascial pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, muscle spasms and sciatica.
Crouching down in weeds
When a Cooper Township firefighter got on the scene of the crash, which was reported around 6:30 p.m., he found Pickett crouching down in weeds by a tree line, according to a police report. A witness told police Pickett seemed to be crouching on the west side of Westnedge Avenue, across from the pickup truck he had been driving, to avoid having anyone see him. The witness said when Pickett stood up to walk toward the truck, he was stumbling and swaying. A firefighter said his eyes were glassed over.
The cyclists were traveling north on the right side of the fog line (the wide white line that separates the roadway from the shoulder), according to a man who said he was walking out of Markin Glen County Park after doing some fishing. He said he saw the pickup truck being driven erratically and someone yelled "Get out of the way." He said about half of the passenger's side of the truck was over the fog line. He jumped out of the way but was unable to warn the cyclists.
A witness said that all four of the pickup truck's tires were to the right side of the fog line when it began striking the cyclists.
"At this point, he saw bikers flying in the air as the collision was made," a police report said. "He also stated that he never saw brake lights come on from the truck but he could not hear the engine as the engine was quiet and he could not tell if it was revving or slowing."
Recovered from Pickett's car were two knotted plastic bags containing a total of 3.35 grams of marijuana, a pipe, a bottle of Tramadol containing 72 green and yellow capsules and one bottle of Ciclobenzaprine containing 25 yellow tablets. A search warrant executed on Pickett's truck uncovered two pieces of foil paper containing 0.1 grams of methamphetamine.
At a hospital where Pickett was taken after the crash, he first told deputies he wanted to have a lawyer present as they interviewed him, according to a report. When a detective told him he had killed five people, Pickett "stared wide-eyed at (the detective) for several seconds then he looked down and stated that it would not change anything."
Pickett then agreed to talk to police and waived his rights for an attorney to be present, according to the police reports.
The day of the crash
Pickett told police he was at the Red Roof Inn near U.S. 131 with his girlfriend to pick up her car on the day of the crash. After dropping her off at her car, he intended to go home to Battle Creek, he told deputies.
Pickett told police he had some "pot" and had taken 50 or 100 mg. of Tramadol pills, an old prescription he had from a back injury that causes him pain. He said he had taken them in the late afternoon or early evening before leaving the Motel 6 on Sprinkle Road, where he had been staying.
Pickett said earlier that day he had attended a funeral for a cousin in Battle Creek. He said he also had taken two to three Flexeril to relax his muscles, and also one of two Seroquel pills that his girlfriend had given him.
Pickett told police he thought he and his girlfriend were going to stay at the Red Roof Inn on South 11th Street and that they often spent the night in hotels, a police report said. He said he had to wait for two people once they were at the hotel, and he got upset about the wait. He said he left the hotel intending to go to his home in Battle Creek.
Pickett said he did not remember anything between the time he drove out of the hotel parking lot and the time he woke up in a hospital room being guarded by a deputy.
Pickett admitted he uses meth three times a week to "fight stress," but up to two weeks before the crash he used it every day, a report said. He said he got his meth from "different people in Battle Creek" but declined to elaborate.
The girlfriend told police Pickett had been extremely depressed over the last few months, and that he smoked marijuana and used methamphetamine "most every day." She said he was depressed the weekend before the crash because of the death of his cousin. She also told police Pickett told her he was once in the Army, was "a trained killer" and had issues with "how many people I killed," according to a report.
The girlfriend said Pickett told her he had 12 sniper rifles in his name that are being used in Afghanistan.
The girlfriend said she noticed Pickett's behavior changed Saturday evening, three days before the crash, which made her think he was "on something." She said he was acting "paranoid and beside himself." She noticed on Tuesday when she got home that one of her pain pill bottles was empty, and assumed Pickett had taken them.
On a car ride on Sunday, Pickett was acting erratically, called his girlfriend several obscene names and punched himself in the forehead with his fist, his girlfriend told police. At one point, he walked away from the car, taking the keys, for 45 minutes before returning. When he returned, he told her to "shut the ---- up and don't say a word," a police report said. He alternated between acting agitated and aggressive and telling the girlfriend "I would never let anybody hurt you."
Later, at the Red Roof Inn on Cork Street, Pickett would not let his girlfriend leave the hotel room, even sleeping by the door so she couldn't leave, she told police. At one point, after the couple went to another hotel, Pickett told her not to leave the room "because he had people outside watching her." That night, Pickett again slept at the door of the hotel room and was yelling and screaming at his girlfriend, she said.
She described him at one point as being "pale and green and drugged up."
Another girlfriend details past issues
June 7 wasn't the first time Pickett allegedly had driven under the influence of pills, according to the police reports.
Another former girlfriend of Pickett's told police he had physically abused her six times in their seven-month relationship and told her she was useless. The former girlfriend said Pickett would smoke marijuana on a daily basis and said he grew marijuana in fields behind his parents' house. The woman said Pickett also would assault her children, including beating her 8-year-old daughter with a leather belt.
The former girlfriend said Pickett was prescribed Adderall, but said he took more than what was prescribed at one time and would buy more on the street when he ran out. She said he stole her cash and credit cards to buy the drugs.
The former girlfriend said Pickett would get "really high" from taking the pills, and that he would often drove while high on the pills. She said on two occasions when she tried to leave Pickett, he dumped his pills in his hand and then into his mouth, and she said she believed he was indicating he would commit suicide if she left.
In a June 29 phone call to his mother, Pickett told her he didn't remember the crash and that he blacked out, a police report said. He also told his mother, "I know I didn't do it on purpose."
Pickett is currently undergoing a competency exam at the state's Center for Forensic Psychiatry. His next court date is an internal review on Aug. 31.