A Michigan deputy could be facing felony-level sexual assault and weapons charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted an exotic dancer and then chased her while brandishing a gun.
Republican state Rep. Neal Friske, 62, was released from Lansing police custody late Friday morning. Detroit Free Press report.
Friske allegedly “chased the adult dancer after an argument.” MIRS News Police were reportedly called to the scene around 2:45 a.m. Thursday after receiving a report of a possible shooting.
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Michigan Rep. Neil Friske was arrested early Thursday morning after he allegedly chased an exotic dancer with a gun. Police are investigating the incident as a sexual assault, but no charges have been filed. (© Annie Doyle/Charlevoix Courier/USA Today Network)
He was arrested on Windbreak Lane near his condo in Lansing, and reports said the dancer works or has worked at the nearby strip club Deja Vu Showgirls, which is the closest such club to the area.
“We will not be commenting at this time,” the facility said. New York Post.
Ingham County Prosecutor John DeWayne’s office told the Free Press that law enforcement learned of a “possible sexual assault of an adult female” at the scene.
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According to MIRS News, the alleged victim worked at Deja Vu Showgirls in Lansing. (Google Maps)
Friske declined to comment as he left the Lansing Police Department on Friday, but his lawyer, Edouard Zaineh, told the Free Press, “This is a case where we are committed to proving true innocence.”
The Lansing Police Department had requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault and weapons-related offenses against the deputies, according to records obtained by the Free Press Friday through the Michigan State Police Criminal History Service.
However, Friske has not yet been indicted or tried, and it is unclear whether these are the charges he will face.
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DeWayne’s office said in a press release Friday that it has asked law enforcement authorities to continue their investigation and that prosecutors are working with law enforcement on the matter.
Zeineh said his office would also conduct a “very thorough investigation” and provide its findings to the Ingham District Attorney’s Office so they could make a “fully informed decision.”
At left, Rep. Neil Friske on the House floor, March 8, 2023. (© Matthew Day Smith/Lansing State Journal/USA Today Network)
In a statement on Facebook, Friskie’s campaign called the arrest “highly suspicious” given that it occurred “just before absentee ballots were distributed” and “the day after an unidentified phone number polled in Congressman Friskie’s 107th District election for her and her Deep State-linked opponent.”
“Congressman Friske exercises his Second Amendment rights at all times,” the campaign wrote. “Oddly enough, we don’t know any details beyond what was provided by media sources before any of us knew anything.”
According to the Detroit News, Friske will face Parker Fairbairn of Harbor Springs in the primary on Aug. 6. The winner of the primary is likely to win the general election in Republican strongholds that include Charlevoix and Emmet counties and parts of Mackinac and Chippewa counties.
Fairbairn said in a statement that despite Friske’s “grossly immoral voting record,” he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“He voted against protecting spouses from marital rape, he voted against making child marriage illegal, he voted against tax cuts for veterans, and just last week he voted against making it illegal to create AI-generated ‘deepfake’ pornography using the likeness of our daughters and wives,” Fairbairn said in a statement. “Neil deserves to be tried in court, and the residents of the 107th District deserve better than Neil.”
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Friske, who is seeking a second term in the Michigan House of Representatives next fall, is considered one of the state Legislature’s most conservative members and is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which describes itself as “focused on traditional conservative values and individual liberty.”
In a second Facebook post after his release, his campaign wrote, “We are confident that Joe and his legal team will be able to prove his innocence of any trumped-up charges.”
