Retired Sterling Heights sergeant killed by suspected drunk driver

Detroit — A retired Sterling Heights police sergeant was fatally struck by a suspected drunk driver Friday morning while walking across Jefferson Avenue in downtown Detroit, police said.

The crash happened at 2:18 a.m. on Jefferson at Beaubien Street, said Dontae Freeman, a Detroit police spokesman.

Police said Daryl Brown was crossing Jefferson when he was struck by a silver Pontiac G6. The car dragged him several feet and then fled the scene, police said.

Brown, 50, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, Freeman said. 

Police were able to locate the vehicle and its driver. Officers arrested the driver, a 30-year-old man, who is cooperating with investigators. 

Brown served with Sterling Heights Police Department for 26 years as a road officer, narcotics officer and many years as a sergeant in the department's traffic safety bureau, the department said Friday. 

Sterling Heights Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski said Brown will be deeply missed and "forever remembered by all."

"Daryl will always be remembered for his big smile and his caring spirit," Dwojakowski said in a Facebook post. "As great of a police officer Daryl was, he was an even better father and friend. Sergeant Brown spent the majority of his life protecting the residents of Sterling Heights, please keep his wife, two young children and all of his family in your thoughts and prayers."

cramirez@detroitnews.com"
Twitter: @CharlesERamirez