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CASSOPOLIS — A Bronson, Michigan man who stole vehicles and other items from a Vandalia area property was sentenced to prison Friday in Cass County Circuit Court.

      Philip Anthony Schug, 35, of Bronson, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful driving away of an automobile and was sentenced to two concurrent terms of 24 months to five years in prison. He has credit for 12 days served. He must pay $1,116 in fines and costs and $2,347.43 in restitution.

      The incident occurred Dec. 17, 2024 at a property on Shattuck Road in Vandalia owned by R & H Investment Holdings. A number of items were taken including two four wheelers, a trailer, a generator, a power washer, drills and batteries.

      A representative of the property owner spoke before the sentencing. He said the incident had taken a toll on employees and disrupted their sense of safety and security.

      Assistant Prosecutor Jason Ronning noted Schug’s “incredible history” of theft and other convictions, numbering six previous felony and 22 misdemeanor convictions. “It started when he was a juvenile and at age 35, he’s still stealing things that do not belong to him,” Ronning said.

      Defense attorney Robert Drake said that Schug was cooperative with police when they came to retrieve the stolen property. “He has written an apology letter and he does seem to be cooperative,” he said. “He didn’t try to deny or avoid responsibility.”

      Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman questioned why Schug was stealing the items since he doesn’t seem to have a drug habit he’s trying to support. “You have 30 convictions when you add the two here and you committed 18 of the offenses while you were on bond or probation,” the judge said. “It’s like it didn’t seem to matter if you were on bond or probation, you just continued this activity.”

      In another sentencing, a Kalamazoo youth who was a passenger in a car that led police on a 30 miles high speed chase will have the chance to keep a felony charge off his permanent record.

An 18-year-old Kalamazoo teen pleaded guilty to unlawful driving away of an automobile and was sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Training Act to two years probation, credit for three days served, $1,978 in fines and costs and $1,350 in restitution.

      The incident occurred Feb. 11 when he and others stole a car on Thunderbird Lane in Howard Township and then led police on a high speed chase of up to 100 miles per hour in both Berrien and Cass Counties before eventually being stopped by police.

      Ronning warned the teen that if he continued with this behavior, he could end up spending time in jail or prison even though this was his first criminal conviction. 

“I hope he recognizes how incredibly lucky he is and takes advantage of this opportunity,” he said.

      Defense attorney Robert Kardatzke said the teen is in school and has one more semester to complete before he graduates. 

“He understands this was a very foolish thing to do,” he said.

      Judge Herman noted that police were able to find the stolen vehicle fairly quickly as the owner had put a tracking device on it. He pointed out that police chased the car on M-51, Indian Lake Road and finally M-140 before the vehicle was stopped.

“I don’t know what you were thinking and how you got yourself involved in this situation,” he said. “You could have been killed, someone else could have been killed or both. What a waste that would be at your age … This opportunity is something you need to take seriously.”

      “You’re never going to outrun the cops, their vehicles are faster than any vehicle you can steal,” the judge added. “And if you keep running, more agencies will get involved and you can’t run from all of them. There will just be more and more people coming after you.”

      In other sentencings Friday:

• Luis Antonio Martinez, Jr., 40, of East Railroad Street in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to three years probation in the Swift & Sure program, completion of the Twin County Probation program, credit for 153 days served and $2,628 in fines and costs. The incident occurred Dec. 29 in Dowagiac when police stopped a car he was riding in and found meth.
• Kya Nicole Wallin, 20, of Riverside Drive in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to three counts of resisting and obstructing police and was sentenced to two years probation, credit for 85 days served and $1,964 in fines and costs. The incident occurred Jan. 28 in Dowagiac when she assaulted police by kicking, head butting and spitting at officers after they were called to the location after she had assaulted her sister.