NILES – A Niles man is going to prison after he attacked his wife with a hammer earlier this year. Also last week, a St. Joseph man who led police on a 13 mile chase in southern Berrien County in January was sentenced in Berrien County Trial Court.
Craig Alan Vogelsang, 54, of South Fourth Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and was sentenced to 57 months to 10 years in prison. He has credit for 41 days already served and must pay $1,598 in fines and costs.
The incident occurred April 8 at a home in Niles. Vogelsang struck his wife in the forehead with a hammer and split it open. His wife didn’t go to the hospital until a few days later although she was disoriented and suffering from severe headaches.
Berrien County Trial Judge Angela Pasula called Vogelsang’s actions and abuse of his wife “mind boggling.” She noted that there had been significant prior abuse when he had broken his wife’s jaw and struck her so hard that her spleen had to be removed.
“I read the report about this assault with absolute disbelief,” Pasula told Vogelsang. “This is one of the most significant assaults I’ve seen in my years on the bench.”
“This was excessive violence,” she said. “You have shown an utter lack of respect for your wife over the years. You treat her as a possession that you can treat anyway you want. The violence over the years has clearly escalated. It’s clear that you would eventually kill her if the cycle of violence was left uninterrupted.”
She noted his past record includes six sentences to jail, four probation sentences and at least one previous prison term. He has had five prior assault convictions. “You’re a dangerous man and you’ve shown that repeatedly,” she said.
Curtis Alan Pedzinski, 23, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty to third-degree fleeing and eluding police was sentenced to two years probation in the Swift & Sure program, credit for 67 days in jail already served and $2,588 in fines, costs and restitution.
He also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of trespassing on railroad tracks and second offense driving while license suspended and was sentenced to 150 days in jail for the driving for license suspended with credit for 67 days already served. He was given 30 days with credit for 30 days served on the trespass charge.
The incident occurred Jan. 30 and began when Michigan State Police Trooper James McGaffigan pulled him over for speeding on U.S. 12 near Gardner Road in Galien Township. Pedzinski took off and made his way to a service road along the railroad tracks north of U.S. 12 and then across farm land.
Pedzinski ended up ditching his truck near Red Bud Trail north of Buchanan and fleeing on foot to the St. Joseph River where police from several agencies converged. Police were able to follow his footprints along the river and arrest him.
Judge Pasula noted that he has been to jail seven times previously and to prison once. “I’m going to give you one more opportunity on probation but if you violate, you will go to prison,” she said. “You have to follow the probation to a T.”
“You’re only 23 years old but you’ve really really been working hard to establish a criminal history,” she said. “Whatever we’ve done in the past hasn’t grabbed your attention. You have offenses all over the state.”
Pedzinski apologized for his actions. “I know I could have hurt and killed someone,” he said. “I realize that I have to grow up and an adult.”
He also faces false pretenses, possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm charges in Marshall, Mich.
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