ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI – Police have identified the two victims who died in a series of crashes Thursday, Dec. 10, on U.S. 131 south of Wayland.
Robert Edward-Lee Crim IV, 43, of Otsego, and Sharon Renee McSawby, 55, of Battle Creek, died in separate crashes, Allegan County sheriff’s deputies said.
Police initially said that three people were killed but on Friday said two had died. Several others were injured.The first crash happened around 11:45 a.m.
Crim was apparently working on his broken-down vehicle when he stepped into a traffic lane and was struck by a northbound semi-tractor trailer. He died at the scene.
The crash, near the Shelbyville exit, caused a backup. A little later, three vehicles were stopped on U.S. 131 when the driver of a pickup truck failed to stop and crashed into the stopped vehicles.
McSawby, an occupant of one of the three stopped vehicles, was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured, sheriff’s deputies said.
In another crash tied to the pile-up, three drivers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, state police said.
The driver of a northbound semi-tractor trailer and a pickup truck behind him had slowed for backed-up traffic in Martin Township. A second semi-truck behind them did not notice the back up and crashed into the back of the pickup truck, which rear-ended the other semi-truck.
The pickup and second semi-truck left the road and collided in a ditch, police said.
The truck drivers were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the pickup was treated at the scene and did not need further treatment, police said.
The crashes remain under investigation.