News

1 Injured In Cass County Moped Crash

Carl Gustin FOX 17 Assignment Editor
10:02 a.m. EDT, May 13, 2012
CASS COUNTY, Mich.— A man was injured when his moped hit gravel, overturned and threw him off in Cass County early Saturday morning. Sheriff Joseph Underwood announced Sunday that at 3:08 a.m. Saturday, the Cass County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a personal injury crash involving a moped on Gumwood Road just south of U.S. 12 in Milton Township. The investigation showed that David Shafer, 44, of Niles had been riding a moped northbound on Gumwood Road when the vehicle ran off the roadway, Shafer lost control in the gravel, and the moped overturned and threw Shafer off.

Shelbyville woman identified as victim in Friday hit-and-run crash involving drunken driver

Published: Monday, May 21, 2012, 7:21 AM Updated: Monday, May 21, 2012, 8:47 AM
John Tunison | jtunison@mlive.com By John Tunison | jtunison@mlive.com
WAYLAND TOWNSHIP -- Police this morning identified a 49-year-old Shelbyville woman as the person who died after a hit-and-run crash late Friday that involved a pickup slamming into the back of a motorcycle, then fleeing the scene. Kimberly Anne Roden, 49, was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by 53-year-old Steven Roden. Allegan County sheriff's investigators said they were riding on 129th Avenue near Eighth Street when they were hit from behind by the pickup. Emergency crews arrived on the scene to find the seriously injured motorcycle riders in the ditch, but there was no other vehicle. A state police trooper, however, had spotted a damaged pickup going south on 10th Street and gave pursuit. The pickup had a front flat tire and front end damage. After a short pursuit, the pickup driver pulled into a driveway and stopped, but struggled with the officer before he was arrested. Meanwhile, the pickup caught on fire because of damage to the wheel well. Police said the pickup driver, a 57-year-old Martin man, admitted to hitting another vehicle and fleeing the scene because he had been drinking. He is awaiting arraignment today on charges of operating while intoxicated causing death, operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and leaving the scene of an injury accident. Allegan Countey sheriff's deputies said the motorcycle riders were only about a mile from their home when the crash happened. They were wearing helmets.

Western Michigan University senior dies from injuries in Parkview Avenue crash

KALAMAZOO, MI – A 22-year-old woman who was critically injured May 12 in a four-car crash on Parkview Avenue has died, Kalamazoo police said. Alexandra Elizabeth Burgett, a Plymouth resident and senior at Western Michigan University, was pronounced dead at about 4 p.m. Saturday at Bronson Methodist Hospital, according to a news release issued Monday by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. Investigators said Burgett was driving west in the 4900 block of Parkview at about 12:20 p.m. on May 12 when the driver of an eastbound SUV crossed the road’s centerline and caused a head-on crash. Burgett was extricated from her vehicle at the scene and taken to Bronson. Police said the drivers of a minivan and truck were also involved in the crash were taken to Bronson for treatment.

Rapid bus, car collide; 1 person hurt, Victim was treated at the scene

Updated: Monday, 21 May 2012, 1:14 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 21 May 2012, 1:09 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - One person suffered a minor injury after a Rapid bus collided with a car as the bus driver tried to avoid a bicyclist on a Grand Rapids road Monday. The bus was traveling south on Fuller Avenue, north of Leonard Street, about noon when the driver moved to another lane to avoid the bicyclist but didn't see the car, police told 24 Hour News 8. The two vehicles then collided, causing minor damage to both vehicles. The bicyclist was not hit. An ambulance was called to the scene but not needed as the victim was treated at the scene. The bus driver will be cited for the crash, police said. Another Rapid bus was brought to the scene and took the passengers to their destinations.

Indiana man dies in Cass County crash: Gregory Snyder, 28, from Bristol, Ind.

Updated: Monday, 21 May 2012, 10:02 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 21 May 2012, 10:02 AM EDT
MILTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A man from Bristol, Ind. died from injuries he suffered in a crash that occurred in southern Michigan. The victim has been identified as 28-year-old Gregory Snyder. Emergency personnel arrived at the scene -- eastbound lanes of M-60 at the U.S. 12 overpass in Milton Township -- and found Snyder in the road, away from his vehicle. An ambulance arrived about 3:16 a.m. and took Snyder to South Bend Memorial Hospital where he later passed away. Snyder's vehicle hit the left guardrail and continued down the road until coming to rest on the right side of the road on the other side of the overpass, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Department. Alcohol and drug use are unknown at this time, police said.

Alleged Hit and Run Drunk Driver Charged in Fatal Crash

Morgan Bond & Carl Gustin FOX 17 News
7:27 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2012
A man from Martin is facing five felony charges in connection with an accident that killed a woman who was a passenger on a motorcycle Friday night, and injured her husband. Michael Awrey, 57, was arraigned by video from the Allegan County Jail Monday afternoon. Police say he was driving drunk when he hit the couple, and left the scene of the crash. Now, Awrey is facing five counts, including Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death, and Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident. At 9:38 p.m. Friday, the Allegan County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a car-motorcycle crash, with injuries, at the intersection of 129th Avenue and Eighth Street in Wayland Township near the Gun Lake Casino.

The driver of the motorcycle, 53-year-old Steven Roden, and his wife, 49-year-old Kimberly Roden, of Shelbyville, were taken to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. Kimberly Roden died later at the hospital while Steven Roden was treated for his injuries. Police say Awrey fled the scene of the crash. He was located a short time later traveling southbound on 10th Street on three tires. When a trooper attempted to stop Awrey, he allegedly fled, pursued by a Michigan State Trooper. Authorities say the vehicle pulled into a driveway in the Martin area, and Awrey resisted arrest before he was taken into custody. During his arrest, the vehicle caught fire from the damaged wheel well. The trooper attempted to extinguish the fire but was unable to do so. The fire department responded to the scene, but the truck was engulfed in flames by the time they got there.

Texting while driving believed to be the cause of rear-end collision that injured two in Kalamazoo

Aaron Mueller | amuelle1@mlive.com
Posted: 05/21/2012 7:33 PM
KALAMAZOO -- A driver distracted by texting caused a two-vehicle crash that injured two people in Kalamazoo Monday, police say. The accident occurred around 6:15 p.m. when a man driving westbound on King Highway was texting and didn't notice traffic was stopped at the stoplight at the intersection with Mills Street, according to Sgt. Andres Wells with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. The man's black Saturn then rear-ended a GMC Envoy. Both the man and a woman driving the Envoy were transported to the hospital on stretchers with minor injuries, according to Wells. Both were wearing seatbelts, and alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Extensive front-end damage was done to the Saturn. The man will be cited, Wells said.

More charges possible in deadly crash; Police investigate party where teens had been

Updated: Monday, 21 May 2012, 9:06 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 21 May 2012, 4:59 PM EDT
By Leon Hendrix
WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) - The investigation into the crash that killed two Wyoming Park High School students could result in more charges as authorities work to learn details about where the teens were before the crash occurred. Ottawa County Sheriff's investigators are now involved in the case as evidence has led police to believe that the students were at a party at a home in Allendale before the deadly crash on the off-ramp from I-196 to Chicago Drive. Charges could be requested against others involved with the party, 24 Hour News 8 has learned. Krysta Howell, 15, and Timothy See, 17, died at the scene of the crash. Huy Nguyen, Trenton Lambright and Dylan Stanaway were injured. Nguyen and Lambright remained hospitalized Monday. All of the students attended Wyoming Park High School. The driver of the car, 17-year-old Takunda Mavima, remained jailed on Monday pending drunk driving charges related to the crash. He is expected to be arraigned in a Wyoming district courtroom on Tuesday at 8:40 a.m. As students returned to school Monday, the mood was somber as they remembered their classmates who lost their lives and hoped for the best for those still recovering.

 

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