A Traverse City man could spend the rest of his life behind bars if he is convicted of robbing the Cherry Bend Grocery store at knifepoint last week.

Michael Douglas Light, 29, of Traverse City was arraigned in 86th District Court in Leland on Wednesday. He has been accused of armed robbery.

Early Wednesday afternoon, Light was arraigned, denied bond, and returned to the Leelanau County jail. A preliminary examination in his case has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 11.

According to court records, Light was convicted of felony drunk driving in 2000 after his third arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. A second felony conviction could qualify Light as an habitual offender who could receive a sentence of “life or any term of years” under state law.

Police reports indicate that Light took a six-pack of beer to the counter at the Cherry Bend Grocery store. As the store’s owner began ringing-up a sale on the cash register, Light allegedly produced a knife, threatened the store owner, and made off with the contents of the cash register as well as the six-pack of beer.

The Leelanau County 9-1-1 Dispatch Center received a call from store owner Dan Plamondon at 4:59 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 28, according to undersheriff Scott Wooters, who was among a number of officers who responded to the scene.

“A lot of us came from all different directions,” Wooters said. The Michigan State Police, the Grand Traverse Band Tribal Police, the Grand Traverse County sheriff’s department and the Suttons Bay Village Police were all involved in the response, Wooters said.

Suttons Bay police chief Del Moore resides in the Elmwood Township neighborhood where the store is located, and was able to track the suspect through the snow to nearby Sylvia Street. The suspect was found hiding behind a vehicle in the driveway of a home on the street.

Subsequently, a tracking dog from the Grand Traverse County sheriff’s department was brought in and sniffed a trail from the store to the same location on Sylvia Street. Along the way, the dog also discovered items of clothing that the suspect had apparently discarded in making his getaway, according to Wooters.

A resident of the home, Sheana Kilbourne, 23, said the suspect had asked her mother, Shaun Dean, if he could use her phone to call a taxi because his car was stuck in a ditch.
“He just looked like a normal person in need of some help,” said Kilbourne. “But I’d never seen anybody draw a gun on anybody before,” she said, referring to an officer who quickly arrived on the scene to apprehend Light.

“This is a really nice neighborhood,” Kilbourne said, “so you just don’t expect to see anything like that around here. But I can tell you that we’ve been watching our doors and windows since then.”