Harrison Twp. firefighter allegedly took pill bottle from fatal crash scene

A 45-year-old Harrison Township firefighter is on administrative leave and faces criminal charges for allegedly taking a pill bottle from the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in late August, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office announced Monday. 

Firefighter Steven Hart was arraigned Monday on one count of tampering with evidence, a felony, at 41-B District Court in Clinton Township, and was given a $10,000 personal bond. He's due back in court on Oct. 3 for a probable cause conference.

On Aug. 21, at Executive Drive and Joy Boulevard in Harrison Twp., a motorcycle crashed, injuring its driver and killing a passenger. 

First responders went to the crash site, and deputy sheriffs from Macomb County noted the presence of an orange prescription pill bottle in the wreckage. 

But when crash investigators arrived, the bottle was gone, the sheriff's office said. A review of the body cameras worn at the scene showed that Hart grabbed the bottle and took it to a different area, authorities say.

They're not sure what became of it, and have yet to locate it, they said.

Deputy sheriffs in Macomb County wear body cameras "in an effort to be more transparent to our community," Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said in the statement. "Not only does this hold our deputies accountable for their actions, but it also holds everyone around them, including the public and other first responders, accountable as well.”

Harrison Township Fire Department has been cooperative in the investigation, Wickersham said.