WAYNE, Mich. (WXYZ) — A former Wayne city councilman faces felony charges along with an alleged accomplice.
Fifty-one-year-old Christopher Sanders time as Wayne city councilman was filled with controversy, but perhaps none so strange as the alleged plot that landed him in criminal court.
Former city of Wayne councilman Christopher Sanders was running for mayor in 2018 after being recalled from city council and after allegedly hiring Jimmie Lee Chandler to break into a female city employee’s car to plant a starter pistol and fake drugs.
“I was just like, what?!, ha, who is this guy??” said Dakota Smith, a resident of Wayne.
And that's not all.
The Wayne County prosecutor says Sanders then waited and watched for this female employee to leave the office and get into her car, then he allegedly called 911 to report a false road rage incident identifying her vehicle.
She never did end up getting pulled over by police, but at some point, she opened her glove box discovering a pistol and something that looked like narcotics. She knew they weren’t hers, so she called the cops.
That launched an investigation by the Michigan State Police.
Now the former Wayne city councilman and mayoral hopeful faces felony charges.
“It’s crazy that a city councilman got arrested for something crazy like that, an ex-city councilman now,” says Smith.
“That is terrible, terribly wrong. He shouldn’t be that kind of guy. He seemed decent to me, but there have been questions throughout the years,” says Bob Roberts. He’s lived in Wayne for 60 years.
7 Action News went to the home of Chris Sanders and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. We also sent a message to his Facebook page, again no response.
Chris Sanders is no stranger to controversy, alleged misconduct led to his recall from office in 2017.
“That’s crazy, but there’s like a lot of big situations going on in the world right now,” says K’lub Spencer.
This strange case inspiring more residents in the City of Wayne to get to the polls.
“Definitely want to research who we’re electing a lot more after someone like that got elected,” says Smith.
The City of Wayne is not commenting at this time. The former city councilman and his alleged accomplice are both expected back in court in October.
