Man attacked trooper's patrol car with a hammer on Sugar Island ferry, police say

A man was arrested after damaging a Michigan State Police vehicle with a hammer while aboard a ferry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, troopers said. 

The circumstances began with a 911 call placed about 1:30 p.m. Monday from Sugar Island. 

Sugar Island sits within the St. Marys River in Chippewa County, on the Michigan side of the international border between the U.S. and Canada. A few hundred people live on the island year-round. The island is accessible from the mainland only by the Sugar Island Vehicle Ferry, operated by the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Service. 

A trooper from the Michigan State Police Sault Ste. Marie post responded to the 911 call, and, in the meantime, was told about a complaint involving a driver on Sugar Island. 

The trooper handled the emergency call and boarded the Sugar Island Vehicle Ferry back to the mainland. The vehicle that was involved in the driving complaint also came aboard that ferry. 

While the ferry was crossing, a man got out of the vehicle and "began hitting the trooper's patrol vehicle with a hammer," police said. 

The trooper then got out of the patrol vehicle and took the man into custody. He resisted arrest and assaulted the trooper while being taken into custody, police said. 

The man is being held at the Chippewa County Jail and has been charged with operating under the influence of drugs, resisting and obstructing a police officer, assaulting a police officer and malicious destruction of police property. 

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, Sault Tribe Police Department, Chippewa County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Border Patrol assisted in the investigation.