GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A former Kent County deputy accused of attacking a man following a road rage incident while off duty has been found not guilty.
On Friday, a jury found Marcelo Aranda not guilty of an August 2022 assault or assault and battery.
The charges stemmed from an alleged assault involving a man who was already paralyzed from the chest down that happened near Lansing in August 2022. Aranda was off duty at the time.
The man, later identified as Tyler Lueken, told News 8 that there was a road rage incident and he pulled off the highway to a rest stop. He said Aranda followed him and came up to his car, yelling, and then pinned him under the steering wheel. He said he and his passenger told Aranda he couldn’t breathe, after which Aranda pulled him from the vehicle, threw him to the ground and punched him in the face. He said he needed several stitches for a split lip.
Aranda accused Leuken of driving drunk. Leuken was ultimately charged with operating while intoxicated.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Department fired Aranda in September 2022.
