MSP Motor Carrier Officer dies after crash on I-75 in Lincoln Park: “We are heartbroken for this loss"

LINCOLN PARK (WWJ) -- The Michigan State Police is now confirming that the motor carrier officer involved in a horrific freeway crash last Friday has died.

Officer Daniel Kerstetter was removed from life support “pending his family’s decision to donate his organs” after he was critically injured in an on-duty crash on I-75 in Lincoln Park, Michigan State Police said.

According to State Police, MC Officer Kerstetter joined MSP in January of 2023 graduating as a member of the 26th Motor Carrier Officer Recruit School on May 25, 2023.

Kerstetter, 45, leaves behind his wife and three children.

“We are heartbroken for this loss,” Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP, said in a release. “Traffic enforcement is dangerous work. The dedication of our motor carrier officers and troopers to keeping the public safe on our roadways is commendable and honorable. With the decision to give the gift of life, even in his death, MC Officer Kerstetter is serving others.”

State Police said MC Officer Kerstetter was parked along I-75 near Dix on Friday, September 13, at 8:30 a.m.— while conducting a traffic stop. A woman driving a Ford Explorer rear-ended his patrol car.

MSP said a preliminary investigation and witness statements indicated the driver struck a median wall, continued down the freeway, hit MC Officer Kerstetter’s patrol car and pushed it into the back of a semi-truck.

The woman died in the crash. The truck driver was not injured.

Motor carrier officers are uniformed MSP officers who specialize in the enforcement of commercial vehicles through traffic safety laws, size and weight restrictions, hazardous material regulations; and by conducting driver and vehicle inspections.