Lakefront shooting heightens Michigan City crime as major issue

from April 20, 2023

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BY STAN MADDUX

The latest shooting under investigation by police in Michigan City happened at the lakefront.

According to police, officers about 7 p.m. Sunday, April 9, were dispatched to the main parking lot at Washington Park on a report of an individual being shot in the leg.

Some of the responding officers secured the crime scene while other officers located a vehicle occupied by the victim heading to Franciscan Health hospital, police said.

The vehicle was given a police escort to the hospital where Wilton Coleman, 23, was treated for a gunshot wound described by police as “non-life threatening.”

So far, no arrests have been reported.

Other unsolved cases involving gunfire recently include a 19-year-old female Door Dash driver on a delivery having her car struck by multiple rounds and a gunshot wounded driver crashing into a house.

An uptick in gun violence and other crime in Michigan City is one of the major issues in the race for mayor.

Mark Yagelski said residents he talks to on the campaign trail are most concerned about crime.

Yagelski said the image of a community as being unsafe can have a major negative impact on a community and he doesn’t want Michigan City’s reputation to rise to the level plaguing crime-ridden Gary for decades.

He said the damage to the image of Gary was significant from that city once being declared the “Murder Capital of America.”

“The perception is we’re unsafe right now. We have to change that. That can destroy a city. I don’t want it to get to that level,” he said.

Yagelski said his plan to reduce crime includes higher pay for police officers to reverse turnover and restore manpower at a department once with more than 90 officers a few years ago.

Most recently, the number of police officers in the community stood in the upper 70s.

Yagelski, a member of the La Porte County Council, said the pay increase for Michigan

City police officers in recent months was not at the level that seems to have stopped the turnover at the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’re in the hole right now. We got to get out of the hole,” he said.

Yagelski is one of five Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in the May 2 primary.

He’s opposed by former two term mayor Ron Meer, city councilpersons Angie Nelson Deuitch and Michael Mack, along with former city councilman Johnny Stimley, who also used to be the La Porte County recorder.

Meer said crime was at an all-time low in Michigan City during a portion of the eight years he served as mayor until 2019.

His solution to crime includes higher pay and children of police officers living outside Michigan City becoming eligible for the city’s Promise Scholarship Program.

Currently, high school graduates living in the city and meeting other requirements receive up to $5,000 a year to help pay for their post-secondary education.

Meer is also proposing demolishing the mostly vacant Marquette Mall and replacing it with a recreational center on the grounds to help get youth off the streets.

He said an investment from the private sector would be required but the city could provide a developer with financial incentives for a facility that could include areas for basketball, volleyball and public swimming pool.

Meer said state and federal funding to further help offset the cost are also possibilities.

He said the sharp increase in the amount of gunfire over the last three years is especially disturbing.

Meer said no amount of investment in the city will work if people don’t feel safe here.

“I don’t want it to effect people wanting to move to Michigan City or leave Michigan City or the visitors who come here. You just can’t have that kind of non-sense of shots fired at the lakefront like we’ve seen several times over the last few years,” he said.

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