Illinois man sentenced for taking girlfriend’s car

An Illinois man looking to spend some vacation time in Buchanan wound up getting time in jail after an argument with his girlfriend escalated and led to criminal charges.

Matthew Aloysius Prier, of Hinsdale, Illinois, was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court to 98 days in jail on one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

According to court records, Michigan State Police responded to an unknown personal injury accident at East Elm Valley Road in Buchanan Township June 8, 2013.

Officers arrived to find a car off the road and in an embankment. The driver was nowhere to be found.

Police spoke to a woman who said that her boyfriend — Prier — stole the car from her after the two had an argument at a Buchanan campground. The victim told police Prier was drinking heavily prior to taking the vehicle, according to court documents.

Prier, 23, was apprehended some time later in Illinois. He apologized to the court and Judge Dennis Wiley

at sentencing.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” Wiley said. “You took her car and destroyed it.”

Prier is currently serving time at the Illinois Department of Corrections for an unrelated conviction. He is set to get out in February of 2017.

He will serve Monday’s sentence concurrently, or at the same time, at the Illinois prison.

Also Monday, 42-year-old Dondi Lynn Zender, of Niles, was placed on probation for one year on one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. According to court documents, Zender pointed a gun at a person she was arguing with and threatened to blow the person’s head off. The incident took place in the 2100 block of South 11th Street in Niles Township April 24. Zender told police she never pointed the gun at the victim, according to court documents.

Zender must also forfeit the gun and perform 120 hours of community service.