State Trooper, Josef Brobst was shot by Robert Hawthorne during a traffic stop on I-75. Brobst was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital with serious, but non life threatening injuries.

Brobst was shot with his own weapon in the lower extremities of his body while he stopped Hawthorne on the southbound lanes of I-75. Luckily, he has already been released from Blanchard Valley and is able to recover at his house.

Hawthorne was arrested after a 14 hour manhunt, and is charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. His bond is set at $250,000

When Hawthorne was pulled over, he had three children and one woman in the car, but they are ot considered suspects.

After Brobst had asked Hawthorne to step out of the car because he smelled Marijuana, Hawthorne resisted and fought with the officer. Hawthorne was able to get Brobst’s firearm and use it against him.

He proceeded to flee from the scene on foot, and was later found by a Walmart after a report from a civilian.

Hawthorne has a long criminal record that includes, assault with a dangerous weapon, failure to register as a sex offender, numerous drug crimes, and resisting or obstructing police in muskegon county.
Schools in the area were closed for the day, and would not open until the suspect was found.

“We had a 2 hour delay because of fog at first, but I didn’t hear about the trooper being shot until school was closed and they sent out an email.” Miles Bowman, sophomore said.

Hawthorne has had many encounters with law enforcement, but hopefully this will be his last.