MENDON TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A woman from Sturgis is dead after a vehicle lost a wheel, causing a three car crash in St. Joseph County.
It happened just after 11:30 a.m. Friday on Silver Street near Hampton Road in Mendon Township.
St. Joseph County Sheriff’s deputies says 22-year-old Carlos Montoya from Sturgis was driving a Jeep Wrangler southbound on Silver when the front driver’s wheel came off from the vehicle.
The wheel entered into the northbound lane, causing a northbound box truck, driven by 58-year-old Michael Butcher from Plainwell, to lose control and cross into oncoming traffic.
Butcher’s truck then struck another southbound vehicle, driven by 20-year-old Julie Renee Zimmerman. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Montoya was uninjured and Butcher was treated on scene and released by Lifecare Ambulance.
Seatbelts were worn during the incident. The crash remains under investigation.
