State trooper linked to fatal ATV crash fights firing

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan State Police trooper who was present when a Detroit boy crashed an ATV and died is fighting his dismissal.

Trooper Ethan Berger is accused of drafting a false police report to try to assist another trooper, Mark Bessner, who fired a Taser at 15-year-old Damon Grimes seconds before the crash last summer.

The Detroit Free Press says Berger also is accused of failing to tell the truth during an internal investigation.

He is appealing his firing to an arbitrator.

Bessner is charged with second-degree murder.

Berger isn't charged with a crime. Separately, the attorney general's office wants to stop representing Berger in a lawsuit filed by the victim's family.