Posted on 05/11/2015 6:56:02 AM PDT by equaviator
Alcohol possibly played a role in the horrific fatal accident that claimed the lives of three high school students at Stony Creek Metropark, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said Sunday.
The sheriff said investigators worked throughout the weekend on the Friday evening incident, which also resulted in severe injuries to two other teens who were in the car when it crashed.
Asked on Sunday whether the investigation uncovered evidence that alcohol was a factor, Wickersham said: Possibly. Thats a possibility. We still need to wait for the results of some toxicology tests that were conducted.
Asked if it was the driver or others in the car who may have been drinking, the sheriff said: All of them.
Investigators say the teens were in a 2008 Jaguar S Type that witnesses said was speeding on the main road around Stony Creek, Park Road, before it struck a guard rail, crashed through a fence and plunged into the Stony Creek River near the Washington Township park entrance about 6:15 p.m. Friday.
Four of the teens were ejected from the vehicle. One was still seatbelted when first responders arrived.
The sheriff said its not clear who was driving the car, which is registered to the stepfather of one of the teens. Officials have been unable to conclude whether the mans stepson was behind the wheel at the time.
One survivor was a front-seat passenger who wore a seat belt and was pulled by first responders from the vehicle. The car had come to a stop on its side in a few feet of water at the south dam of the park in Washington Township, Wickersham said.
Police have already said speed was a factor in the crash.
Witnesses told reporters and police they saw the Jaguar speeding through the park. At least one other motorist said the speeding car briefly crossed the center line and was headed toward oncoming traffic before returning to the appropriate side of the road.
The sheriffs office has identified the young men who were killed as Jonathan Manolios and Emanuel Malaj, both 17, and from Sterling Heights, and Michael Wells, 17, of Macomb Township.
The two survivors have been identified by friends as Greg Bobchick, a junior at Eisenhower High School, and Joseph Narra, who was a junior at Utica High School.
Teens driving a 2008 S type Jaguar??????
Jaguar S-types are touring sedans and not sports cars.
A 2008 Jaguar S-type would be very cheap and very luxurious. A family-sized car that’s not very fast unless it was one of the rare performance models.
Thanks for posting this. These kids were all from my area, and my son knew one of them.
(I won’t pay for the Macomb Daily, as the newspaper is nothing more than a two-bit communist propaganda organ masquerading as a hometown newspaper.)
The top of the line S-type R had a 4.2 liter supercharged V-8 putting out ~400hp. Don't know if this one was, but even a sedate model will go much faster than a drunk teen could handle.
At least they weren't smoking pot. /s
I live within a mile of the scene. I heard the sirens but thought maybe it was background sounds on TV. When I hit the “mute” button on the remote, I could still hear emergency vehicles to the east of me sounding like they were headed north with the sound growing ever-louder. Turns out that they were on their way to Stoney Creek and the scene of the crash. I didn’t know what had happened until early the next morning on WJR 760 AM radio.
The drug dealer doesn't spend time, effort, and money trying to convince the community that he isn't in the business of profiting from human misery.
Teenage boys. That's who. I know I did. There but for the grace of God...
You learned from your mistake but now these three kids will never have the luxury of learning from theirs or anyone else’s.
Hopefully others will learn from their mistakes.
I’m sure we’ll see heavier-than-usual patrols on Memorial Day weekend and rightly so, because after only two weeks there will probably be those who would forget too soon.
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