A Gun Plain Township man accused of a series of violent crimes across Kalamazoo has been ordered to be evaluated for his competency to stand trial.
Kalamazoo County District Court Judge Richard Santoni ordered the evaluation after Steppenwolf’s arraignment, according to court records.
The series of crimes happened Jan. 24.
According to a police report obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Steppenwolf is accused of starting his crime spree by threatening a gas station clerk with a shotgun.
A man driving the 2007 red Dodge Caravan registered to Steppenwolf robbed BN Food and Gas in Comstock Township with a gun about 9:25 a.m. of about $9.69 in gasoline.
The clerk told police a man they say was Steppenwolf walked into the store and told the clerk she needed to give him a free $10 worth of gas. When she refused, he walked back to his car and returned with a shogun.
“(The victim indicated) that this white male subject then pointed the shotgun at her, stated to her “I will kill you unless you give me $10 in gas.” (The victim) stated that she would give him $5. He again raised the shotgun and point it directly at her, stated that he was going to kill her to which (the victim) stated okay, that she would give the $10 in free gas...”
The report said he pumped the gas and then drove away.
The police report noted that Steppenwolf’s wife said he had been doing methamphetamine and been up for two days at the time of the incident and that he was always accusing her of cheating on him with random people.
The police report then detailed how he drove to a home on G Avenue in Cooper Township and tried to set it on fire.
Firefighters arrived and put the fire out before it caused major damage. Steppenwolf told police he was trying to burn the house because the woman who lived there was involved in a car crash with Steppenwolf’s mother.
He admitted then to driving to a home on Monterey Drive in Kalamazoo where he fired seven shots from his shotgun, screaming racial slurs and throwing a Molotov cocktail.
Steppenwolf told police that he’d done what was right and it was “God’s way” because he believed his wife was seeing one of the men who lived there romantically.
It was a woman, however, he hit twice while she was standing in her kitchen.
The police report said the victim’s daughter had gone to school with Steppenwolf but didn’t believe he could be the man she saw shooting at her house because he appeared older.
Steppenwolf then apparently left and drove to the other side of Kalamazoo where he encountered a woman driving a Blue Chevrolet Malibu, who he punched several times in the course of taking her car.
Steppenwolf than apparently crashed the car in eastern Kalamazoo County Climax Township.
A Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office deputy had come in on his day off when he heard there was a large-scale incident happening.
The deputy was the first to the scene along with his canine partner and, armed with a rifle, ordered Steppenwolf out of the vehicle and onto the ground.
He complied, the officer said, but “While he was lying on the ground the suspect was trying to call my K9 to him for an unknown reason.”
Steppenwolf was arrested and taken to the hospital where police interviewed him about the incidents.
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