Driver charged in crash that killed four K&B Asphalt workers on Labor Day 2023

ADRIAN — A driver has been charged with causing a crash that killed four employees of an Adrian paving business on Labor Day 2023.

Matt Allen Koester, 56, of Adrian was arraigned Friday in Lenawee County District Court on four counts of reckless driving causing death, according to court records. Bond was set at $200,000. A bond hearing is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 19, a probable cause conference is scheduled for Aug. 23, and a preliminary examination is set for Aug. 30.

K&B Asphalt Sealcoating employees Robert Fox , 35, of Adrian, Ryan Shirley , 33, of Adrian, Jaiden Taylor , 18, of Adrian and Cole W eber , 23, of Hudson died from injuries sustained in the crash, according to district court records and their obituaries.

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Michigan State Police troopers took Koester into custody Thursday evening after an investigation involving the state police's Monroe Post and Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit as well as the Lenawee County Prosecutor’s Office led to the charges being issued, a news release from the state police said. The charges were authorized Thursday, court records show.

The crash happened at about 10:30 a.m. Sept. 4, 2023, at the intersection of Britton Highway and Milwaukee Road in Macon Township. The K&B employees were in a work pickup, headed southbound on Britton Highway when they were struck by a pickup driven eastbound on Milwaukee Road by Koester, whose "willful or wanton disregard of the stop sign" caused the employees' deaths, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the state police with the district court.

Three of the K&B crew died at the scene, while a fourth was pronounced dead at ProMedica Hickman Hospital in Adrian Township, state police reported at the time of the crash.

Reckless driving causing death is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian .

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Driver charged in crash that killed four K&B Asphalt workers on Labor Day 2023