News

I-96 ramp rollover victims identified

Published : Sunday, 20 May 2012, 11:24 AM EDT
Marc Thompson
CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Michigan State Police confirm a second woman has died from Saturday's crash on the I-96/ 28th Street exit ramp in Cascade Township. The women have been identified as Wendy Sak, 35, from Lake Ann and Julie Davis, 50, from Traverse City. The crash took place around 11:20 a.m. Saturday. Police say a Traverse City woman was driving a 2005 Honda Accord when she lost control, overturned and ended up on the guardrail of the exit ramp . There were three people total in the car. Sak was the rear seat passenger and was pronounced dead at the scene. Davis, the front seat passenger, was taken to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids where she died from her injuries. The driver was also transported to a local hospital, but police have yet to release her name and condition. Investigators say speed was a factor in the crash, but alcohol was not.

Female dies after car hits motorcycle

Published : Saturday, 19 May 2012, 2:09 PM EDT
WAYLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A man is behind bars after authorities say he hit two people on a motorcycle with his car and then took off. It happened late Friday night on 129th Avenue in Allegan County's Wayland Township. According to authorities with the Michigan State Police, a 57 year old man from Martin was driving on the road when he hit a man and a woman on the motorcycle. As a result of the accident, the man and woman were seriously hurt. Authorities tell 24 Hour News 8 that the woman on the motorcycle died while being transported to the hospital. Authorities later located the suspect driving south on 10th street with only three tires. A trooper from Michigan State Police tried to pull over the man when a small chase began. Moments later the driver drove the car into a drive in the Martin area where authorities say he resisted arrest. During that time, however, the suspect's vehicle caught fire due to the damage of the wheel well. The trooper eventually was able to arrest the man and tried to extinguish the fire. The trooper was unable to do so and the fire department was called to put out the car fire. The suspect is now staying at the Allegan County Jail for O.W.I. causing death and leaving the scene of a crash. Additional charges are likely for fleeing and eluding police, and resisting arrest.

Driver, 80, strikes man walking on shoulder of road in Cass County

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 9:55 PM
By Mickey Ciokajlo | mciokajl@mlive.com
CASS COUNTY, MI -- A 23-year-old Union man was struck by a vehicle Saturday morning as he walked along the dirt shoulder of a road in Cass County's Porter Township. Nathaniel Gibson was walking along Sunset Boulevard near Pleasant Drive at 10:40 a.m. when he was hit by a vehicle driven by Jimmy Emerick, 80, of Three Rivers, according to a news release from the Cass County Sheriff's Office. Gibson was transported to Elkhart General Hospital for treatment of his injuries. The accident remains under investigation, police said.

Hastings man airlifted to hospital after crashing motorcycle into Barry County sheriff's patrol

Published: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 12:35 PM Updated: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 12:40 PM
Garret Ellison | gellison@mlive.com By Garret Ellison | gellison@mlive.com
BARRY COUNTY, MI — A motorcycle rider was airlifted to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo with critical injuries early Sunday morning after striking a sheriff’s department patrol vehicle in Johnstown Township.Michigan State Police say speed, alcohol and marijuana use by the motorcycle rider were likely factors in the crash, which took place on M-37 near Culver Road about 12:50 a.m. Sunday morning.Police said the injured rider is a 23-year-old Hastings man. He was transferred to the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor from Bronson.The man was traveling northbound in the southbound lane of M-37 when he struck a Barry County Sheriff’s Department patrol SUV just leaving a stationary position on Culver Road, where the deputy had been running stationary radar.

2 Hurt, 1 Of Them Seriously, In Ottawa County ATV Crash. ATV Wasn't Legal

Carl Gustin FOX 17 Assignment Editor
12:22 p.m. EDT, May 20, 2012
OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich.— Two people were injured, one of them seriously, in an ATV crash in Ottawa County early Sunday morning.At 1:29 a.m. Sunday, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of an ATV accident on Eighth Avenue near Roosevelt Street in Wright Township. The investigation showed that two men were riding a 2011 side-by-side Can Am ATV southbound on Eighth Avenue when the vehicle left the roadway, entered a ditch and hit an embankment.Both men were injured and were transported to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids where the front-seat passenger -- Christopher Host, 25, of Grand Rapids -- was listed in serious condition and the driver -- Rob Scheidel, 24, of Comstock Park -- was listed in stable condition later Sunday.Both were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.Deputies said the ATV was not registered to travel legally on a public roadway, and that alcohol was a factor in the crash.The Wright Township Fire Department and Life Ambulance assisted the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office at the scene.

1 dead in Park Township car crash

Updated: Sunday, 20 May 2012, 3:06 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 20 May 2012, 2:52 PM EDT
PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Several emergency crews are at the scene of a crash in Park Township. The crash happened just before 2 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of North 168th Avenue and Riley Street. Authorities say one person has died as a result the crash.

Teen jailed in classmate-killing crash

Updated: Monday, 21 May 2012, 1:16 AM EDT
By Leon Hendirx
WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - A 17-year-old boy was booked in the Kent County jail hours after he was involved in a crash that killed two of his Wyoming Park High School classmates. Takunda Mavima is expected to be charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol causing death on Monday, 24 Hour News 8 has confirmed. Two Wyoming High School teens died at the scene of the rollover crash on the I-196 off-ramp to Chicago Drive in Wyoming.Those victims were identified by family members as 15-year-old Krysta Howell and 17-year-old Timothy See. Three others were injured, including two 18-year-old men and a 16-year old boy. One of those victims remained in the hospital on Sunday evening, but is expected to recover.