Two central Michigan men — one of whom allegedly fled to Texas and Mexico after an armed robbery — were arrested after leading police on a car chase through multiple counties, officials said.

A detective with the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office at about 11 p.m. Monday received a tip the wanted suspect had returned to the county, authorities said. A tipster told the detective the suspect was driving a GMC Yukon and provided him with the license plate number, they said.

Investigators believed the suspect was traveling to his mother’s home in Ionia and sheriff’s deputies positioned themselves to intercept the SUV, police said. They spotted the vehicle on East Lincoln Avenue and tried to pull the Yukon over. However, the suspect driver fled through the city of Ionia and onto a highway to Montcalm County.

Additional law enforcement officers joined the chase on various back roads, they said. The Yukon then traveled toward Greenville where the city’s police department took over the pursuit, officials said.

They followed the suspect vehicle into Kent County where local sheriff’s deputies deployed devices near Northland Drive to puncture the Yukon’s tires. The devices were effective, the vehicle stopped and several people exited the Yukon and ran away, police said.

Authorities searched the area on foot and used a drone to find and arrest everyone who was in the Yukon, they said.

During questioning, the SUV’s driver admitted he knew one of his passengers was wanted for armed robbery, police said. He also told investigators he was a parolee himself and was afraid of being arrested for associating with a crime suspect, they said.

Officials said three other passengers in the Yukon, a 19-year-old woman, a 17-year-old male, and a 22-year-old man, are not being charged. The three are Ionia residents. Police also said all the people who were in the Yukon are related to each other.

Police said the SUV’s driver, Diego Luis Bowerman, 21, of Ionia, was charged with fleeing and eluding police and parole violation. He was arraigned Tuesday in 64-A District Court in Ionia on a charge of third-degree fleeing and eluding police, according to court records.

A judge set his bond at $30,000 and scheduled his next court hearing for Jan. 13, 2025. Officials said he is currently being held at the Ionia County Jail.

Police said the passenger wanted on an armed robbery warrant from Kent County, Enrique Vazquez, 22, also of Ionia, has yet to be formally charged. He was taken to the Kent County Jail.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

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After a Rose Bowl blowout, in which his top-ranked Oregon Ducks were blitzed off the field, head coach Dan Lanning had an interesting quote. Still stinging from the fact that his team was completely outmatched on the field he invoked the Michigan Wolverines during his post-game presser. Surely, he knew this would draw the ire of Buckeye fans who are still stinging from the manhandling they endured at the hands of the Wolverines to end their regular season. Having lost “The Granddaddy of them all” , I suppose Lanning saw it as a chance to take a final parting shot at the team from Columbus.

While many CFP pundits believe his Oregon team got the shaft in their seeding this year, eventually you have to beat the good teams to win a Natty either way. Having to face an Ohio State team that is suddenly more motivated than ever, in the second round is not really a reward for winning the toughest conference in football though. Consider that Penn State, a team Oregon also beat in the regular season along with Ohio State, has had to play SMU and Boise State to stay alive in the playoff. We are just happy to give Lanning a final barb to toss at the Buckeyes on his way out of Pasadena.

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Michigan’s quarterback situation in 2024 was abysmal at best, ranking No. 129 in passing offense. However, better days are ahead at QB for Michigan. The Wolverines added 2025 No. 1 overall prospect and No. 1 quarterback Bryce Underwood to the equation as well as Fresno State transfer quarterback Mikey Keene.

Underwood’s an early enrollee and practiced with the Michigan team during their ReliaQuest Bowl prep against Alabama, and both he and Keene will be with the team for offseason conditioning and spring practices. While many assume that Underwood will be the starter in 2025 due to being the cream of the crop in his recruiting class, that is far from being decided — a legitimate competition between him and Keene will unfold.

“It’s open competition,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said this week. “Nobody is promised a certain spot. Everybody has got to earn it, and he really understands that, even with the guys we’ve brought in. So he’s really excited to push the whole room.”

Keene has plenty of experience, and will be entering his fifth collegiate season after stops at Central Florida and Fresno State. Keene had a 70.5 completion percentage in 2024 at Fresno State with 2,892 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Keene has passed 8,245 passing yards in his career with 65 touchdowns and 28 interceptions with a 67.8 completion percentage.

Moore noted that Keene’s familiarity with new Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey’s scheme was “huge.” Lindsey was Central Florida’s offensive coordinator in 2022 while Keene was at UCF — Keene threw for 647 yards, six touchdowns and one interception with a 72.3 completion rate that season.

“Heard great things and tactical things about him as a leader,” Moore said. “Really excited for him to push that room and give us an experienced guy that we feel that he can win us games, and that was the most important piece of it.”

Bringing Keene into Michigan is the type of addition that Michigan needed and Underwood wanted. Underwood realizes that the only way he’s going to get better is by having good competition day in and day out in Ann Arbor.

“You just want to make sure you have enough guys in the room who can push each other,” Moore said. “A big thing when we recruited Bryce was ‘who’s going to push me, who’s going to make me better?’ All his life he’s been pushed to be made better, he doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Underwood has the highest of ceilings, and Keene has tons of experience and familiarity in Michigan’s new offensive scheme — who winds up starting is currently anyone’s guess. The fact we don’t know should serve both Underwood and Keene well in the months to come.