Friske arrested for possible criminal sexual conduct

A heavily redacted case report obtained Monday by the Free Press indicates that police have considered the investigation of state Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, an investigation into possible first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The case report, filed Thursday morning after Lansing police arrested Friske, has been almost entirely redacted. The portion that is not redacted indicates that police treated the case as an investigation into criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, a crime defined in part as sexual penetration by force or force.

Friske was released from the Lansing police custody Friday morning and has not been charged with any crime. It is not clear what criminal charges the first-term lawmaker will face.

Scott Hughes, a spokesman for Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane, had no update on the investigation when asked Monday for an estimate of how long it could take for officials to decide whether to file charges.

Records obtained by the Free Press last week show that Lansing police have filed charges of assault, assault and a weapons-related offense against Friske, but did not specify the extent. The report shows that at least during the investigation phase, police treated it as first-degree criminal sexual conduct, the most serious sexual assault charge.

Edwar Zeineh, Friske’s attorney in Lansing, did not immediately respond to the news that Lansing police had investigated first-degree criminal sexual conduct. But Zeineh said Friday that his office is conducting its own investigation to convince prosecutors that Friske should not be charged. He said he hopes to prove his client is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Lansing police said a Free Press request under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act was denied largely because of the ongoing investigation. “The requested data is inextricably intertwined with sensitive information, its disclosure would disrupt ongoing law enforcement investigative procedures,” a department official wrote.

Friske was arrested around 2:45 a.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of Windbreak Lane in Lansing, Jordan Gulkis, director of public information for the Lansing Police Department, previously told the Free Press. Gulkis said officers were initially dispatched to the nearby 2100 block of Forest Road to respond to reports of a man with a gun, “and possible shots fired,” she said in an email.

Friske is a first-term Republican lawmaker representing Michigan’s 107th House District, which includes all of Charlevoix and Emmet counties and parts of Cheboygan, Chippewa and Mackinac counties, covering both peninsulas. He has filed for re-election and is seeking a second term in the House of Representatives this fall. According to his website, he is the owner of Friske and Sons Property Management.

Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected].

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected]. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.