One involved firefighter from out of county department

There were two crashes in Oakfield Township, in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 7, and the second crash involved a firefighter from an out of county department that had self-dispatched to the first scene.

According to the Michigan State Police and Oakfield Fire Department Chief Sam Peterson, the first crash occurred at 1:15 a.m. at 14 Mile and Wabasis. Jennifer Cribs, 22, of Aurora, Colorado, was northbound on Wabasis, when she failed to stop at the stop sign at 14 Mile and was struck by an eastbound pickup truck driven by Daniel Heath, 30, of Greenville.

The woman was flown to Butterworth Hospital by AeroMed with serious injuries, and the man was sent to the hospital by ambulance.

While both Oakfield and Spencer Township Fire worked on the first scene, another crash report came in at 2:30 a.m. and involved a firefighter west of the scene of the first accident, in front of the Halfway Restaurant.

Police said that Joshua Crandall, 35, of Greenville, was driving eastbound on 14 Mile, and hit an unattended firefighter’s vehicle that was blocking eastbound traffic on 14 Mile, in front of the Halfway Restaurant. Police said that Crandall suffered minor injuries, and that alcohol was involved.

However, according to Oakfield Chief Sam Peterson, when they and Spencer Township arrived on scene, they found that the firefighter was not one of theirs. “It was discovered that the firefighter was from an out of county department, and had self-dispatched to the scene, skirting the incident command system,” said Peterson. “He was in a spot where we would not have had a (road) closure, and he was not visible by our command staff or working staff. Both departments worked quickly, effectively, and safely to secure both scenes, and treat patients at both scenes until care could be turned over to advanced life support.”

“At Oakfield Township Fire Department we work to keep scenes safe and patients safe and it is important to be vigilant around emergency scenes,” continued Peterson. “It also is important to know that we have the training and experience to be able to do so in a controlled and safe manner, and self-dispatching is never safe, as well as goes against incident command protocols. Here at Oakfield Township Fire we work hard to keep our township safe and will continue to do so. We have a great team that is ready to serve and protect the community 24 hours a day, and we will not let this incident set us back as a department.”

Devin Sebastian Tumbleson

A Crystal Township woman is in critical condition after a man she was riding with strangled her and pushed her from the vehicle.

According to the Montcalm County Sheriff Office, on Monday, May 23, two people were traveling on Berridge Road, in Eureka Township, south of Fenwick Road, looking for morel mushrooms, about 7:16 p.m., when they heard someone calling for help.

The two found a 19-year-old woman from Crystal, and she was badly injured, so the two took her to Spectrum United Memorial Hospital in Greenville for treatment. Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office responded to United Memorial regarding the assault victim. The Crystal woman told the deputy that she was traveling with a man in his car and that a disagreement arose between the two. The woman reported that the man became irate and assaulted her, including strangling her and pushing her out of his vehicle.

The victim was later flown from United Memorial to Spectrum Butterworth in Grand Rapids via AeroMed.

The suspect, identified as Devin Sebastian Tumbleson, age 28 from Belding, was initially arrested for aggravated assault and lodged at the Montcalm County Jail.

He was later charged with Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder and Assault By Strangulation. Tumbleson was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and he remains behind bars with a $25,000.00 bond.

Police said the man and woman knew each other but were not involved in an intimate relationship.

The Crystal woman remains in the hospital listed in Critical Condition.

The Ionia County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan State Police assisted the Sheriff’s Office.

The case remains under investigation.

Two people were sent to the hospital via Aeromed Tuesday morning after a crash at 17 Mile and Sparta Avenue. Post photo by J. Reed.

by Judy Reed

UPDATED with names May 18.

Four people were injured in a crash in Tyrone Township Tuesday morning, with two being sent to the hospital via AeroMed.

The accident occurred around 10:30 a.m. May 17, at the corner of 17 Mile and Sparta Avenue. According to the Michigan State Police, a 1998 tan Ford Windstar van was heading north on Sparta Avenue, when the driver disregarded the stop sign at 17 Mile Rd. and was hit in the front passenger side by a westbound 2010 white Chevy HHR. The vehicles rolled and landed in the yard of a home on the northwest corner of the intersection. There is a stop sign on Sparta Avenue, but not on 17 Mile.

This car was heading west on 17 Mile when it was hit by a northbound van at Sparta Ave. Post photo by J. Reed.

The driver of the HHR, Darryl Metzer, 28, of Clare, was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. He was the only occupant in the vehicle.

The driver of the van, Timothy Watkins, 38, of Sand Lake, was transported to the hospital by Rockford ambulance and is in stable condition.

Two people in this van were airlifted to the hospital via Aeromed and the other two passengers were transported by Rockford Ambulance after the van collided with a Chevy HHR Tuesday morning. Post photo by J. Reed.

Police said that the two rear passengers in the van, Mitchell Helton, 43, of Sand Lake, and Peggy Helton, 54, of Sand Lake, were not seatbelted, and were transported to Butterworth Hospital by AeroMed and are in serious condition.

The Michigan State Police, Kent County Sheriff Department, Sparta Fire and Rescue, and Kent City/Tyrone Township Fire and Rescue were all on the scene.

According to one witness at the scene, Laura Glidden, owner of the Cheap Buys Thrift Shop on the northeast corner of the intersection, she had just went out to her car seconds before the accident occurred. “I saw the white car go by, then heard the crash,” she said.

Glidden is worried about the number of accidents occurring at the intersection. “There was an accident here just last week. There have been eight accidents at this corner since I moved into the store a year and a half ago,” she remarked. She also said that during the afternoon hours when kids get out of school at Algoma Christian, which is located just north on Sparta Avenue, cars will speed through her parking lot, cutting through to avoid the buses. “What if a child is coming out of my store and is hit by a car?” she asked. “Do you think anyone will take a look at  putting another stop sign or light here now?”

The cars landed in the yard of James and Cindy Hart. Cindy said that she was in the backyard when she heard a “bang bang.” When she came around the house, she saw the cars. But she wasn’t surprised. “All of the cars end up in my yard,” she noted, including one last year that she said stopped only inches from the house.

She said her husband has spoken with the township about trying to get a light at the intersection. “He has talked to a lot of people over the last 19 years, but nothing has been done,” she said.

“That car hit that tree so hard that it took the top off,” she said pointing to her yard. “That’s why we have the trees. He (James) planted them because they (the township) won’t do anything.”

Hart also complained that no one completely cleans up after the crashes. She said that officials might sweep up some glass off the road, but that she and her husband end up cleaning up a lot of debris–and repairing their property. “When we try to get a copy of the police report to submit a claim to insurance for repairing our property, they (police) say we have to pay for it,” she said. “It doesn’t seem fair.”

The Post called the Kent County Road Commission to get the facts on how many accidents have occurred at this intersection, and to find out if any kind of a study has been done or is warranted. We are waiting to hear back from them.

Five teens were riding in this Pontiac Grand Prix when it left the road and hit a tree in Alpine Township on Sunday, April 10. Photo from FOX 17.

An Alpine Township family is grieving this week after their 16-year-old daughter died from injuries she suffered in a traffic accident involving five teens.

Alyssa Eggerding

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, they responded to the scene of an unknown accident on April 10, at 3:45 a.m. at the intersection of 9 Mile and Vinton, in Alpine Township. Also responding to the scene was Alpine Township Fire Department, AeroMed, and Rockford Ambulance.

They determined that the vehicle, a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix, was traveling north on Vinton, when the teen driver lost control and went off the roadway, and struck a tree at the northeast corner of Vinton and 9 Mile.

There were five teenagers in the vehicle, and they all suffered serious injuries.

One of the passengers, Alyssa Eggerding, 16, of Alpine Township, died Monday, April 11, of her injuries. She was a junior at Sparta High School, and member of the varsity softball team.

The other teens involved in the accident included the driver, Armando Mendoza, 17, of Alpine Township; Alyssa Naughton, 16, of Walker; Kaitlin Keeler, 15, of Alpine Township; and Olivia Lawrence, 17, of Sparta. Lawrence is also a Sparta High School student, and the others are Comstock Park High School students.

Police do not believe that the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Sheriff department’s investigation will be forwarded to the Kent County Prosecutor’s office for review and formal charges once it is completed.

A Sparta man was working at an area farm Tuesday when he was fatally injured by a bull.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Thomas William Hammond, 60, of Sparta, was working at 1046 Hull St. NE, in Algoma Township, when the incident occurred. Hammond was working for Spartan Farms, 11116 Pine Island Drive, Sparta, and was a long-time employee.

Emergency dispatch received a call about 11:25 a.m. that a 60-year-old male was having trouble breathing after being attacked by a bull.

Police said that employees were attempting to load a farm bull on to a trailer to remove it from the farm, when the bull ran away from the trailer and back in to the barn, where Hammond was located. The bull ran to the victim and attacked him, hitting his chest with his head several times. Employees were able to separate the bull from the victim, and assisted him out of the barn.

Sparta Fire, Algoma Fire, Rockford ambulance, and Aeromed were all dispatched to the scene. Rescue personnel rendered aid to the victim, however the victim soon became unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kent County Animal Control also responded to the scene and did not find any animal violations.

A three-vehicle crash in Montcalm County involving a car, a pick up, and a semi, sent two people to the hospital Friday morning, July 10.

According to the Montcalm County Sheriff Department, Mark Steven Williams, 58, of Leroy, Mich., was traveling northbound on S. Sheridan Road (M66) about 3:42 p.m., in a 2004 Ford F350, while pulling a farm implement, and ran a red light at the intersection of M57 (Carson City Road). His vehicle struck a 2012 Volkswagon Jetta driven by Nichole Nielsen, 35, of Spring Lake, who was westbound on M57. The two vehicles then slid into a 2007 Kenworth semi, owned by J&H Oil, which was facing south on M66, and waiting to turn right on M57.

A passenger in the pickup, Rocky Allen Lockhart, 55, of Leroy, was taken by AeroMed to Butterworth Hospital for his injuries. Nielsen, the driver of the Jetta, was taken to Sheridan Hospital by Montcalm County EMS, with non-life threatening injuries.

Three young men were injured in an accident in Cannon Township last week. Photo from WOOD TV8.

Three young men from Rockford were seriously injured last Thursday when the car they were riding in crashed into a tree.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, deputies responded to a personal injury accident at 9 Mile and Young Avenue in Cannon Township about 6:02 a.m., December 4, involving a passenger car and three occupants. Police said that the driver, Jacob Taylor, 21, of Rockford, lost control of the vehicle and crossed the centerline and struck a tree.

Taylor suffered critical injuries and was transported by Aeromed to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital. The front seat passenger, Bret Bailey, 21, of Rockford, also suffered critical injuries, and was transported by Rockford Ambulance to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital. The back seat passenger, Mitchell Fabro, 22, of Rockford, suffered serious injuries, and was also transported to Spectrum Butterworth by Rockford Ambulance.

An early morning rollover accident last Sunday sent three men to the hospital, one by AeroMed.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, a 2004 Acura, driven by Connor Steven Thomsen, 21, of Greenville, was traveling westbound on 14 Mile, west of Lincoln Lake Avenue, in Oakfield Township about 12:53 a.m., Sunday February 23, when it left the roadway, causing it to roll over numerous times.

Thomsen was transported to Spectrum United Hospital, in Greenville, by ambulance, with minor injuries. His front seat passenger, Trevor James Vandenberg, 21, was transported to the hospital by AeroMed with serious injuries. The rear seat passenger, Chase Lee Wright, 24, also of Greenville, also suffered serious injuries and was transported to the hospital by ambulance.

Oakfield Fire and Rescue assisted at the scene.

Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in the crash. It is still under investigation with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.

A Big Rapids man lost his life last week while trying to rescue a dog in Reynolds Township.

According to the Michigan State Police Lakeview Post, the incident occurred on Thursday, October 3, about 9:29 p.m. They said that Morris Zerlaut, 63 was attempting to cross M-46, near Edgar Road, to retrieve a dog that had escaped from a nearby home, when he was struck by a westbound vehicle driven by a 27-year-old male. The victim was eventually transported via Aeromed to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. Upon arrival at the hospital the victim was pronounced dead.

Police said that seatbelts were worn and alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident.

The Howard City Police Department and members from the Reynolds Township Fire Department, the Montcalm County EMS, and Rescue all assisted at the scene.

An accident in Solon Township Sunday night sent two people to the hospital, one with possible life threatening injuries.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Chad Wehler, 22, of Howard City, was driving a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix eastbound on 18 Mile about 10 p.m., when he pulled out in front of another car traveling southbound on Algoma.  The other car, a 2001 GMC Yukon, driven by Kylie Burns, 24, of Howard City, struck Wehler’s vehicle in the driver’s side door. Wehler had to be extricated from the vehicle and was transported to Butterworth Hospital by AeroMed with possible life threatening injuries. Burns was transported to the hospital by Rockford Ambulance.

Both drivers were wearing seatbelts. Police believe alcohol was a factor in the accident.