Former Berrien County officer sentenced for faking salvage vehicle inspections

A former Lincoln Township Police Department detective lieutenant was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months of probation, including 90 days in the Berrien County Jail, for falsifying salvage vehicle inspections, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. Jonathan Chase, 55, of Stevensville, was sentenced by a 2nd Circuit Court judge in Berrien County after pleading no contest to one count of misconduct in office and one count of false certification.

Chase, who was the sole officer responsible for salvage vehicle certifications at the department, submitted multiple falsified inspection forms to the Michigan Department of State. Salvage vehicle inspections are meant to verify that heavily damaged or rebuilt vehicles are safe to drive and that their parts are not traced to stolen vehicles. Chase entered his plea in June and was originally charged in October 2025.

The Michigan State Police Southwest Commercial Auto Recovery Team investigated the case and referred it to the Attorney General's FORCE Team, a unit created in 2023 to target organized retail and vehicle-related crime in the state.

Read the full story at michigan.gov.