State Briefs

Sterling Heights doctor arraigned in death of woman killed in Leelanau County crash

ELMWOOD TOWNSHIP (The Traverse City Record-Eagle/TNS)— A doctor from southeastern Michigan who was driving a vehicle involved in a fatal head-on crash on Labor Day last year was arraigned Thursday in 86th District Court on a felony count of reckless driving causing death and five additional counts of reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function.

Undersheriff James Kiessel of the Leelanau County Sheriff's Department said Shahed Muhammad Hussain, 33, of Sterling Heights, was arrested on Tuesday following a lengthy investigation.

His arraignment was conducted via Zoom from the Leelanau County Jail, after which he was released by Antrim County-based Magistrate Sarah Carter on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond.

Hussain, who specializes in internal medicine and practices at Priority Medical Center in Hamtramck, was charged in connection with the death of 46-year-old Jennifer Lynn Broekhuizen on Sept. 4, 2023. The sheriff's department said Broekhuizen, who lived in Jenison in Ottawa County, died after Hussain, who was driving a 2023 Toyota Corolla, tried to pass a vehicle and collided head-on with a 2020 Chevrolet being driven by Broekhuizen's husband, Timothy.

Court records show that Timothy Broekhuizen was hospitalized with a pelvic fracture.

The other passenger in his car, a minor whose sex and age were not specified, suffered a brain injury and was airlifted to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Three passengers in Hussain's car also were injured, according to court records. Farida Khanom, who shares an address with Hussain in Sterling Heights, suffered compound fractures; Dina Haque suffered a lung contusion, a pelvic fracture and spinal fractures; and a minor whose sex and age were not specified suffered a fractured right femur and was airlifted to Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

The sheriff's department reported that a deputy who helped put out a fire resulting from the crash suffered smoke inhalation and was treated at Munson Medical Center.

Leelanau County Prosecutor Joe Hubbell said Hussain was the only person involved in the crash who was not seriously injured.

The charge pertaining to the death of Jennifer Broekhuizen is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The other five counts are felonies punishable by a maximum term of five years in prison.

A message left for Hussain at Priority Medical Center was not returned.

Michigan Senate panel votes to expand open records law to governor, lawmakers

LANSING (The Detroit News, TNS) — A Michigan Senate committee voted earlier this week to subject lawmakers and the governor's office to the state's open records law, a move that would end broad exemptions that are rare nationally.

For years, Michigan has been one of only two states where legislators and governors are left out of policies that generally require government officials to hand over documents when they're requested by members of the public.

The Senate Oversight Committee voted 5-0 for bills to expand the Freedom of Information Act while also providing a series of special exclusions for lawmakers and the governor's staff, including carving out communications between them and their constituents.

Senate Oversight Chairman Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, labeled Wednesday's committee votes an "historic moment" for the upper chamber. They came during Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of transparency. In the past, the state House has led on efforts to strengthen Michigan's open records laws, but previous Senate GOP leaders blocked the measures.

"I'm proud that it is the Senate that is now taking the lead on this," Singh said.

The only Senate Oversight Committee member who didn't support the bills on Wednesday was Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Allen, who passed.

The new bills still have to be voted on by the full Senate and the House and gain Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's signature to become law.

Democrats won control of the Senate for the first time in nearly 40 years in November 2022. And state Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, who studied journalism at Michigan State University, has pushed Democrats to prioritize pro-transparency policies. He's worked across the aisle on the bills with Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan.

"It's a new day," Moss said after Wednesday's meeting.

Six defendants to stand trial on allegations of criminal enterprise targeting accident victims

LANSING – Five Michigan defendants and one New Jersey man were bound over to stand trial in the 16th Circuit Court in Macomb County on charges alleging the group operated an auto insurance fraud scheme targeting Michigan residents involved in automobile collisions, according Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Anita Fox, director of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS).

"We have alleged here a systematic, far-reaching criminal network that we believe was operating a sophisticated insurance fraud scheme for years," said Nessel.

It is alleged that, beginning in 2013, Michael Angelo, of New Jersey, ran a lawyer hotline, 1-800-USLawyer, and funneled auto accident callers into an elaborate insurance fraud scheme, directing the callers to one or several of the many medical enterprises owned or controlled by Angelo.

Per the allegations, the referred caller would be directed through a predetermined protocol of office visits, device and injection treatments, medication prescriptions, and drug screenings, physical therapy sessions and diagnostic imaging, all performed within Angelo's network of enterprises or those operated by coconspirators. It is alleged that each business then billed the no-fault auto insurance carriers (or the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan for the uninsured patients) for the respective treatments.

Defendants in the case are Michael Angelo, 61, of Springfield, NJ; Chitra Sinha, 80, of Bloomfield; Robert Presley, 49, of Ferndale; Mohammed Ali Abraham, 70, of Dearborn Heights; Thomas Quartz, 36, of Grosse Ile; and Hassan Fayad, 37, of Dearborn.

Portions of this investigation were conducted by the FBI, which turned evidence over to state authorities after conclusion of federal review. Further investigative work was conducted by the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the DIFS Fraud Investigation Unit.