4 from Temperance injured in crash with suspected drunken driver on U.S. 23

PITTSFIELD TWP. — Four people from Temperance were injured Sunday evening when the SUV they were in was struck by an alleged drunken driver on a freeway south of Ann Arbor.

Michigan State Police troopers from the Brighton Post were dispatched at about 7:15 p.m. to the area of southbound U.S. 23 near Michigan Avenue for a two-car crash, a news release from the state police said. The investigation shows that prior to the crash, a 43-year-old man from Willis, was driving a 2004 Chevy Silverado pickup southbound on U.S. 23. Witnesses reported the driver was weaving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed as it came upon a 2015 Cadillac SUV driven by a 64-year-old woman from Temperance with three passengers in the left lane of travel. The suspect vehicle struck the SUV from behind causing the vehicle to spin out of control. The SUV spun into the suspect vehicle striking it again, then left the roadway striking the cable barrier and overturning into the northbound lanes of U.S. 23.

The driver of the SUV and her passengers — a 91-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, all from Temperance — suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash and were transported to University of Michigan hospital for treatment, the release said.

The suspect driver was uninjured, the release said. Troopers arrested him and lodged him at the Washtenaw County Jail on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing injury.

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The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact Trooper Douglas Ryan at 517-899-6174.

The Brighton Post was assisted by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, Pittsfield Township police and fire departments, Huron Valley Ambulance and the Michigan Department of Transportation.