Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Alright so here is my story, I'll tell it all and hopefully you will have some advice at the end. So a short while ago I was on an out of state college geology class field trip (with about 50 students, 2 TAs and 1 professor) to a state park in Michigan. We were there to look at some local geology. After being in the field all day we went out to a bar and had dinner and some drinks. Everybody was Over 21 and nobody got too drunk. Upon returning to the campsite someone decided it would be a good idea to head down to the lake and hang out. We went down a long and winding trail and nobody knew where we were going except for one guy who ended up leaving the group. We eventually made it to the beach where we hung out for a bit and drank a little. At one point I saw some lights coming down the beach so I ran up the hill out of sight. It turned out to be the DNR, one kid who was still down there got a citation for drinking, and I got separated from the group. I was pretty lost, so I decided to walk down the beach and head back up the road to what I hoped was the campsite. Eventually after like 2 hrs, when I was almost there, I ran into two of my classmates on the road. Almost immediately we saw lights coming up the road, and we got frightened and ran into the woods. Of course it turned out to be the DNR guys, they chased us in there and, once we figured out who it was, and after they threatened to send dogs in after us (empty threat, the bastards), I came out. I tried to tell them who I was and explain what was going on, but they handcuffed me, told me that I was going to go to jail for running, and put me in the back of the DNR truck. They seemed to think I threw something into the woods while I was running, like drugs or something, I'm not sure. Some other police then showed up (they seemed more reasonable and somewhat sympathetic) and helped the DNR dudes fish my other classmates out of the woods. They questioned them too, they explained themselves, and eventually the DNR tool took me out of the truck and got the handcuffs off me, said "you're lucky" to me, and drove us back to camp. Back at camp, they made us wake everyone up, including the professor, made us pack all of our stuff up, and kicked us out of the park at 2 am. Apparently 4 different groups of students had been stopped by them that night and they had had enough. The bus had to come pick us up. It was terrible and we are probably in some sort of trouble with the University. The DNR guy took down our license information, and multiple times they told us three from the woods incident that we are facing felony charges and up to 5 years in jail, but they never gave us any tickets or anything and after we made everyone pack up we just drove back home (out of state). So my question is should I expect some sort of warrant to come to my parents address in the mail? We honestly ran for no real reason we were just freaked out from being lost in the woods for so long, and we were kind of drunk too but we are all over 21. Apparently he shouted at us to "stop or you are going to jail" but I didn't hear him, and we were cooperative after we were able to calm down and come out of the woods. The DNR guy was a bit of a prick though kinda seemed like he was bullied too much in high school or something but we were polite. If anyone has any inkling of what may happen to us please share. I don't have much of an idea, if any, about Michigan state law/DNR jurisdiction. We are good kids that got in a bad situation, I have no past misdemeanors or criminal record (some civil citations for UA drinking in another state but nothing criminal). I also probably wouldn't survive jail (hah) and can't afford to be there since I am trying to finish my BS in engineering.

PS the only other kid to get a citation that night had a bottle on him and got a trespassing/alcohol in state park ticket or something

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Michigan

Looking for something else?