KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A 17-year-old Kent City boy is in critical condition after being dragged alongside a vehicle following an argument with other teenagers.
Deputies say the incident happened around 2 p.m. Thursday in the area of Fruit Ridge Avenue and 20 Mile Road. A group of teenagers had been standing next to a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old when an argument broke out, allegedly about the sale of a vape pen.
The 17-year-old boy was then dragged alongside the vehicle as it left the area. He was later found on the road with critical injuries by first responders and taken to a hospital.
Deputies say it is unclear if the 17-year-old held onto someone or something inside the vehicle or if someone inside the vehicle held onto him while he was dragged.
The vehicle that dragged him was later found by deputies. All involved teenagers are between 15 and 17 years old, according to investigators.
Family of the boy identified him as Colin Rogers, and they said he's in the ICU at a Grand Rapids hospital in a coma. He suffered a shoulder separation, broken bones and brain swelling.
Colin's dad, Clay Rogers tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE he'll more than likely be in the hospital for months.
Clay explained Colin was helping his friend get his vape pen back, which the other teens had allegedly taken the day before, in exchange for $20.
But the vape pen given to them wasn't as nice as the previous one so Colin reached his hand inside the car and then the driver took off at full speed. When the car turned onto the road is when Colin flew and was badly hurt.
"I have mixed emotions. I was a teenager one time, but I didn't do anything to hurt anybody," said Clay. "Five seconds; you stop the car and he breaks his arm and gets hurt. I can understand that. Ten seconds becomes a cognitive thought. Cognitively even as a minor you could have subjectively stopped yourself. You did not wish intent onto somebody else. 15 seconds; you're a POS."
The incident is being submitted to the Kent County Prosecutor's Office for review.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Kent County Sheriff's Office at 616-632-6125 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.
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