A Michigan State Representative He could face felony sexual assault and weapons charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted an exotic dancer and then chased her away brandishing a gun.
Republican state Rep. Neal Friske, 62, was released from the Lansing police lockup Friday morning. Detroit Free Press informed of.
Friske reportedly “chased away an adult dancer after a disagreement,” MIRS News Police responded to a report of a possible shooting at about 2:45 a.m. Thursday.
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Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly chasing an exotic dancer with a gun. Police are investigating a possible sexual assault, but no charges have been filed. (© Annie Doyle/Charlevoix Courier/USA TODAY NETWORK)
he was arrested near one of her condos in Lansing on Windbreak Lane. According to the outlet, the dancer reportedly works or used to work at the nearby Déjà Vu Showgirls strip club, which is the closest such club.
“We have decided not to comment at this time,” the establishment said. New York Post,
At the scene, law enforcement learned that “Possible sexual assault “This is a homicide of an adult female,” Ingham County Prosecutor John DeVane’s office told the Free Press.
According to MIRS News, the alleged victim worked at Deja Vu Showgirls in Lansing. (Google Map)
Friske declined to comment as she left the Lansing police station Friday, but her attorney, Edward Zeineh, told the Free Press that “this is a case we are paying close attention to in order to establish actual innocence.”
Records obtained Friday by the Free Press through the Michigan State Police Criminal Background Services show the Lansing department requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault and weapons offenses against the legislator.
But Friske has not yet been charged or indicted, and it is unclear whether she will be charged.
Dewane’s office wrote in a press release Friday that he has requested the department continue its investigation, and that prosecutors are coordinating with law enforcement agencies on the case.
Zeineh said his office would also conduct a “very thorough investigation” and provide its findings to Ingham prosecutors so officials “can make a very informed decision.”
Rep. Neil Friske, left, in the House, March 8, 2023. (© Matthew Day Smith/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK)
In a statement released on Facebook, Friske’s campaign wrote that the arrest was “highly suspicious” because it happened “just before absentee ballots were released” and “one day before a vote was cast by an anonymous phone number for the 107th district race between Representative Friske and our opponent, who has deep ties to the state.”
“Representative Friske is exercising her Second Amendment rights as always,” the campaign wrote. “We have no details other than what the media has provided; strangely, none of us knew about this in advance.”
Friske will face a challenger in the primary election against Parker Fairburn of Harbor Springs on August 6, the Detroit News reports. The winner of the primary will likely win the general election in the Republican stronghold, which includes Charlevoix and Emmet counties and parts of Mackinac and Chippewa counties.
In a statement, Fairburn said that despite her “abysmal and unethical voting record,” Friske is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“He voted against protecting spouses from marital rape, voted against making child marriage illegal, voted against tax cuts for veterans — and just last week, he voted against making it illegal to create AI ‘deep fake’ pornography using images of our daughters and wives,” Fairburn wrote in a statement. “Neal should get his time in court, and the people of the 107th District deserve better than Neal.”
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Friske, who is seeking her second term in the Michigan House next fall, is considered one of the most conservative members of the Legislature and is part of the House’s Freedom Caucus, which describes itself as “focused on traditional conservative values and individual liberties.”
After his release from jail, his campaign wrote in a second Facebook post that he was “confident he and his legal team will be able to prove his innocence against any false allegations.”
