Rep. Neil Friske investigated for most serious sexual assault charge, records show
A heavily redacted case report obtained by the Free Press on Monday indicates police considered the investigation into state Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, an investigation into potential first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Friske, who has not been charged with a crime as an investigation into an early-morning Thursday incident in Lansing continues, said on a Michigan radio program Monday that he is "being framed," without explaining how he believed that was happening.
"Just the way events unfolded, it was very clear to me that something wasn't right and I was being framed, and trying to be framed, and being set up," Friske said on the "Your Defending Fathers" conservative radio program, hosted by Randy "Trucker Randy" Bishop, who is a former county GOP official in Antrim County.
More: Friske addresses arrest at event in Petoskey: 'Thrilled' not to be in jail
Friske said he couldn't discuss details of what happened, but he said he has done nothing wrong and does not plan to resign his seat. He said he planned to return to Lansing on Monday to participate, starting Tuesday, in what is scheduled to be the last week of the legislative session before the summer break. In a letter his campaign sent to supporters Monday, Friske said he was arrested due to "false allegations" and he expects to be exonerated.
The case report, filed Thursday morning hours after Lansing Police arrested Friske, is almost completely redacted. The portion that is not redacted indicates police were treating the case as an investigation into first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony defined in part as involving sexual penetration by coercion or force.
Friske was released from Lansing police lockup Friday morning and has not been charged with any crime. It is not clear what, if any, 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 might take for officials to decide whether to file charges.
Records the Free Press obtained last week show Lansing police requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault, and a weapons-related offense against Friske, but did not specify the degree. The report reveals that at least in the investigative stage, police were treating it as first-degree criminal sexual conduct, the most serious of the sexual assault charges.
Edwar Zeineh, Friske's Lansing attorney, had no immediate response to the news that Lansing police had investigated for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. But Zeineh said Friday his office is conducting its own investigation aimed at convincing prosecutors that Friske should not be charged. He said he hopes to show his client is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Lansing police said a request from the Free Press under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act was mostly denied, due to the ongoing investigation. "The requested records are inextricably entwined with sensitive information, the disclosure would interfere with ongoing law enforcement investigative proceeding," a department official wrote.
Friske was arrested about 2:45 a.m. Thursday in the 2000 block of Windbreak Lane in Lansing, Lansing Police Department Director of Public Information Jordan Gulkis previously told the Free Press. Gulkis said officers were dispatched initially to the nearby 2100 block of Forest Road to respond to reports of a male with a gun, "as well as possible shots that were fired," she said in an email.
Friske is a first-term Republican lawmaker representing Michigan's 107th House District, which covers all of Charlevoix and Emmet counties and portions of Cheboygan, Chippewa and Mackinac counties, spanning both peninsulas. He has filed for reelection and is seeking a second term in the House this fall. He is the owner of Friske and Sons Property Management, according to his website.
In the Monday radio interview, Friske appeared to suggest his political opponents were somehow behind the Thursday incident.
"That's how these people work," Friske said.
"I just don't even understand how someone that wants to claim to be an upright, Christian person can run this kind of campaign and then live with themselves."
He added: "People see right through this. It's a century-old game. It's not even new."
Parker Fairbairn, a Harbor Springs small business owner, has filed to challenge Friske in the August GOP primary election.
Fairbairn said in a Monday email the idea that he had anything to do with Friske's arrest is "preposterous."
"My campaign has been nothing but issue- and legislation-focused with zero personal attacks," Fairbairn said.
Along with Friske and Fairbairn, Jodi Decker, of Sault Ste. Marie, has filed to run as a Democrat for the 107th District. Decker ran against Friske as the Democratic candidate in the 2022 election, losing by about 6,000 votes, or 13 percentage points.
Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected].
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected]. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police report: Friske arrested on potential criminal sexual conduct
