DETROIT – The woman accused of lying to authorities in connection with the investigation into 17-year-old London Thomas’ death had her charges dropped Monday.
Charla Pendergrass, 48, of Clawson, was initially charged with lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation as authorities were investigating the 17-year-old’s death.
Thomas was found dead in Southfield on April 26, three weeks after she had been reported missing. She was last seen alive when she was dropped off at her boyfriend’s house on Carlysle Street in Inkster on April 5.
Pendergrass is the boyfriend’s mother. She and her son were initially arrested the same day Thomas’ body was found, but both were released as authorities investigated the case.
In court Monday, Aug. 4, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Dominic DeGrazia moved to dismiss the case against Pendergrass. He said she was charged under MCL 750.479c for lying to a police officer during a violent crime investigation.
The problem, DeGrazia claimed, stemmed from whether FBI agents qualify as peace officers under the statute. It was ultimately decided that MCL 750.479c does not define federal agents as peace officers and that the case against Pendergrass could not move forward.
“It’s alleged that the defendant made these false statements to two special agents from the FBI. I’ve communicated with them. Neither one of them were ever licensed as a police officer in the state of Michigan. There were no other law enforcement agents present when this interaction occurred,” DeGrazia said. “There are some statutes that would permit a federal agent to be authorized to be a police officer, but however, the way the legislature wrote this statute, I don’t believe that trying to proceed under that theory would survive appellate review.”
The defense attorney had no objection to the prosecution’s request to dismiss the charge against Pendergrass. The charges were dismissed without prejudice.