Family Struck Down by Hit and Run Driver (Another SUV Gone Mad)

www.wxyz.com ^ | February 4, 2004 | John Klekamp

[Core_Conservative]

A hit and run accident in Clinton Township Tuesday night has left one man dead and a woman and her 1-year-old daughter injured. Police have the man that they believe is responsible for the accident in custody.

Police have not released any details on the suspect they have in custody, whether he had been drinking or was even aware that he had hit this family. Officers do say that they will seek several felony warrants against him.

The young couple was pushing a stroller on Canal rd., east of Romeo Plank, when a Jeep Liberty ran over them. The young father that was killed has been identified at 20-year-old Robert Young Jr.

Sgt. Thomas Terzo, of the Clinton Twp. Police, told Action News, "At the original point of impact, the man and woman were laying there at the side of the road."

The stroller, however, with the baby still inside, was caught up under the SUV. The driver dragged the stroller one full mile as it sparked along the road before he finally stopped near Greenfield.

Sgt. Terzo explained, "We don’t know if the driver got out and dislodged the stroller and child, or if it just disengaged by itself. We got some tire marks on the shoulder there, and I have an officer that will take a casting of the tire and tread marks? The driver of the vehicle didn’t stop to help anybody."

After stopping at Greenfield, the driver took off again, leaving the baby at the side of the road, which is how police officers found it when they arrived at the scene.

"When the officer found the baby," Sgt. Terzo told Action News, "the baby was crying, and the officer and the firefighters at the scene ended up getting the baby out of the stroller."

The mother of the baby girl was taken to a local hospital and was able to speak with police Tuesday night. The baby was air ambulanced to the children’s hospital in Ann Arbor. The conditions of the mother and daughter are unknown.

[Core_Conservative]

This is just sad - but I also have to mention that when I first heard this today that it was the SUV that killed the father and dragged the stroller. The body count continues to rise from the SUV's gone wild.

[Core_Conservative]

They have the name of one of the streets wrong - wish they would double check their facts. The street he continues to call Greenfield is actually Garfield - a very busy intersection - north/south for Macomb County. Someone should have seen what was going on.

[GrandEagle]

when a Jeep Liberty ran over them
And this happened in spite of license and registration.
We must need to ban assault SUV's. After all, there is no sporting use for them.

My sarcasm is not intended to detract from the families loss. Heartbreaking beyond words.

[Tacis]

From my observations, it may not be the SUV at fault. It may simply be that the SUV driver was involved in a very important telephone conversation that the young couple was inconsiderate enough to try to interupt. When you are first in line at a red light, note the folks making a left turn in front of you. Around here, more than half of then are on the 'phone and, because one hand is holding the 'phone, are incapable of making a sharp left turn.

[EggsAckley]

The baby stroller

[Flightdeck]

The movie '21 Grams'. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you should; it's intense.

[lilylangtree]

Sad! Sorry to read about this type of news. However, "Clinton" Township? Just like the street named "Clinton" in my neighborhood. I avoid the street like the plague.

[cherry]

I wonder if this suspect is an elderly person......

usually when their young they spread it far and wide.....

[Core_Conservative]

Hit-and-run driver kills one, drags baby in stroller for a mile




By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer February 04, 2004





Macomb Daily photo by Ray J. Skowronek

A Clinton Township police officer works in his patrol car near a crumpled baby stroller that was struck by a hit-and-run motorist on Canal Road Tuesday night.
Clinton Township police have arrested a 46-year-old Clinton Township man in connection with a fatal trafffic accident Tuesday evening on Canal Road near Romeo Plank. They impounded a maroon Jeep Liberty believed to have been involved in the incident.

Police said a motorist struck three people who were walking on the side of a two-lane road — including an infant girl in a stroller which was dragged for nearly a mile.

The 1-year-old baby was found by a team of witnesses, police officers and firefighters still strapped into the stroller on the side of the road. She was crying and suffered cuts to her face.

However, the baby's father died after he was rushed to Mount Clemens General Hospital. The baby's mother was reported to be in critical condition at the hospital.

"(The mother) kept saying, 'Where's my baby, where's my baby,' and we didn't see any baby," said Brian Yonka of Mount Clemens, who saw the collision. "That's when we started running up and down the road looking for the baby."

The incident happened about 7:20 p.m. Tuesday on Canal near Romeo Plank near the Clinton-Macomb Public Library, said Clinton Township police Sgt. Thomas Terzo.

Witnesses said a dark blue or black Jeep Liberty was westbound on Canal as the couple walked on the side of the road pushing a baby stroller. The Jeep crossed the white line at the edge of the road and struck the trio and kept going, police and witnesses said.

As the man and the woman lay on the ground, the stroller apparently was lodged in the front grill of the Jeep, which kept going. The stroller was later found near Greenfield, east of Garfield, about one mile from the crash scene.

"We believe whoever was driving stopped at that point, got out of their vehicle and removed the stroller before they took off again," said Terzo. "I have to believe they could tell at that point that there was a child in the stroller, but they left."

The victims were treated for their injuries at the scene by Medstar Ambulance crews and Clinton Township firefighters before being rushed to the hospital. The child was taken to St. Joseph Mercy of Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township and was expected to be airlifted late Tuesday to University of Michigan's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.

"One of the victims was unresponsive when we got there and the other one, the woman, was somewhat conscious, but she was pretty hurt," said Capt. Michael Phy of the Clinton Township Fire Department.

The woman was reported to be in critical condition at Mount Clemens General Hospital, police and fire officials said. None of the names were released.

The extent of the baby's injuries was not immediately available, but police said the infant was crying when she was discovered on the side of Canal and was bleeding from her forehead.

"When you have a child involved, let alone a baby, that certainly adds another element to the tragedy that we are dealing with in a hit-and-run accident such as this," said Terzo, a longtime accident investigator.

Police were unable to explain what the couple was doing in the area. Their personal identification indicated they live in Wayne County. Workers at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library said they had seen people with strollers in the facility earlier in the day, but couldn't say for sure if the couple had been in there on Tuesday.

Yonka, the witness who helped find the baby, was returning home from classes at Macomb Community College when he saw the Jeep strike the three and flee.

"The Jeep just struck them dead on, it just jolted me to see this," said Yonka, 23, who served three years in the U.S. Army. "I thought they were pushing a grocery cart because I could see the sparks coming from the front of the vehicle as it went on down the road."

Yonka joined Clinton Township police and firefighters in looking for the stroller and initially thought the woman was mistaken because they couldn't find anything in the immediate area. They kept moving west and later spotted the stroller. An officer also found one of the baby's shoes that may have been knocked off in the impact.

The accident is under investigation and police expect to file charges against the motorist. Anyone who may have information on the case is asked to call Clinton Township police at (586) 493-7935.