WAYLAND TOWNSHIP (WKZO-AM) — An alleged drunk driver involved in a fatal crash in Wayland Township could face multiple felony charges after a high-speed chase with an Allegan County Sheriff’s deputy.
He was first spotted by an officer from the Gun Lake Tribal Police early Saturday morning, who said the man passed him on U.S. 131 as the officer was transporting a prisoner to the Allegan County Jail.
The officer put out an alert after contacting dispatchers. A deputy spotted the suspect exiting the highway onto 135th Avenue and gave chase, attempting a traffic stop. Instead, the suspect driver bolted away at such a speed that the deputy could not safely keep up.
The deputy continued down 135th Street and found the suspect’s car rolled over in a ditch near 4th Street. The suspect was trapped in the car, belligerent, uncooperative and later determined to be intoxicated.
At about that time, dispatchers received a call from another motorist who had been allegedly struck by the suspect. The motorist’s vehicle was rolled over into a dense tree line and had not been seen by the deputy. They tracked down the second wreck and found that one of the three occupants had been ejected and was dead at the scene.
One of the survivors was admitted at Spectrum-Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids with critical injuries, the other was in serious condition.
The suspected driver was treated and released at Allegan General Hospital and booked into the Allegan County Jail.
No names have been released.
UPDATE 5/16 at 11:20 a.m.: The person found dead at the scene of the roll-over has been identified as 36-year-old Jemimah Palsce of Albuquerque, NM.
