Mackinac Island, MI – A pair of elderly tourists riding a tandem bicycle led a Mackinac Island police officer on a slow-moving pursuit Saturday afternoon after failing to yield to a horse-drawn carriage on the city’s main street, authorities said.
The incident began shortly after 2 p.m. when Harold and Edith Lang, both in their seventies and visiting from Ohio, pedaled their bright blue tandem bicycle through a carriage crossing near Market Street. The move startled the horses pulling a carriage filled with visitors, prompting Officer Daniel Krupke, who was patrolling nearby on a mountain bike, to signal for the couple to stop. Police said the Langs, who both wear hearing aids, did not hear Krupke’s calls and continued cycling eastward.
What followed was an unusual three-mile pursuit at a speed that rarely topped 9 mph, winding past the fudge shops and hotels of Main Street, along the shore near Mission Point, and onto the perimeter trail skirting Lake Huron. Shoppers and tourists watched as the chase passed by, and some even joined in the spectacle. “Honestly, I don’t think they realized they were being followed at first,” said Doris McCullough, who runs a gift shop on Main Street. “They were smiling and waving like it was part of the show.”
The slow pace made it easy for joggers, rollerbladers, and other cyclists to keep up. Visitors recorded videos on their phones, and small groups gathered along the sidewalks to clap or cheer as the tandem pedaled by. “I’ve seen faster sprints at the potato sack race during the Lilac Festival,” said Martha Greene, a year-round resident who posted a video online. “Still, it was the most excitement we’ve had downtown in weeks.”
Eventually the chase left the main business district and continued along the waterfront path. Tourists sitting on benches near the marina reported hearing laughter and confusion as the officer patiently pedaled after the couple. The pursuit ended near Windermere Point when the tandem bicycle wobbled on a curve and slowed enough for Officer Krupke to pull alongside. Once stopped, the Langs appeared surprised to learn they had been pursued. “We didn’t hear a thing until he was right next to us,” Harold Lang later said. “We thought folks were cheering us on because we looked good on the tandem.”
The couple was issued citations for failure to yield and careless operation of a bicycle. No injuries were reported, and the horses involved in the initial violation were quickly calmed. Police emphasized that while the incident was unusual, traffic safety is taken seriously on the island.
Mackinac Island, located in Lake Huron between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, is famous for its ban on automobiles, a law that has been in place since 1898. Residents and the island’s nearly one million annual visitors rely on bicycles, horse-drawn carriages, and their own feet for transportation. Patrol officers use bicycles, walk beats, and occasionally ride horseback. The car-free policy has created a bicycle-dense community where minor accidents and traffic violations are common, though a pursuit of this kind is rare. “We enforce traffic safety the same way we would anywhere else, but it looks a little different here,” Police Chief Thomas Boyer said. “This was not a high-speed pursuit, but we want to remind visitors that bicycles are vehicles under the law.”
As the chase wound down, it quickly became a topic of conversation across the island. Ferry passengers arriving at the dock saw the end of the pursuit and mistook it for a staged event. Several local businesses made light of the episode, with one fudge shop advertising a “Tandem Truffle.” Local radio station WMIC briefly interrupted its Saturday programming to report updates from callers, and by evening, videos of the chase had spread widely on social media, tagged with the phrase “Mackinac’s Slowest Chase.”
Though the event ended without harm, it left behind stories and laughter for visitors and locals alike. Officer Krupke, who handled the incident with patience, acknowledged the absurdity of the moment. “It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t furious,” he said. “But justice still caught up with them, one pedal stroke at a time.”
Truth Bureau 