Dennis Rodeman, 35, was not only a firefighter in Lansing, Michigan, but a former Marine who served a tour of duty in Fallujah, Iraq — serving his country in what was at the time perhaps the most dangerous place in the world to be an American. But what he could not have known was the real danger was back at home — and when it hit, all he was doing was collecting money for a muscular dystrophy charity.
The seven-year Lansing firefighter, along with some of his fellow members of the department, was standing in the center lane at the intersection of South Cedar Street and Jolly Road in Lansing, participating in a “fill the boot” charity event for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. At around 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, he somehow got into an altercation with the driver of a white Chevy S-10 pickup truck.
The driver drove past Rodeman, drove back to where the firefighter was standing — and then, according to police and eyewitness accounts, deliberately ran down the Marine Corps veteran, killing him.
“The suspect came by, was upset for whatever reason, circled back around,” said Landing Police Captain Jim Kraus. “The preliminary investigation is that he deliberately hit the firefighter.”
According to a report on WOOD-TV , the suspect then sped off and was quickly pursued by police. After a short but high-speed chase, the suspect stopped his vehicle, got out and ran. But the cops chased him down and, even though he fought when they caught up to him, finally placed him under arrest.
The suspect’s name has not yet been released. Some media outlets, including WOOD-TV gave his age as 22, while an Associated Press report listed the suspect as 32. He is reported to be a resident of Lansing.
Police plan to hit the suspect with murder charges, as well as charges of fleeing police officers.
“It is beyond tragic,” Lansing Police Chief Mike Yankowski said. “This was a military veteran that fought overseas as a Marine in several tours of duty and he’s here on a charity event, an annual event, and to have one of our Lansing bravest get cut down in the line of duty this way is really unimaginable.”
Another driver in the area who witnessed the fatal hit-and-run, Tionna Davis, said that driver swerved his pickup across lanes and “literally tried to hit” the hero firefighter.
Dennis Rodeman and his wife were married just two months ago, and were expecting their first child.
[Images: WLNS-TV Screen Grab, Lansing Fire Department]
