UNION TWP., Mich. (WWJ) – A man is dead after being hit by a car while inspecting the damage to his car moments after hitting a deer near Mt. Pleasant early Monday morning.
It all unfolded around 7 a.m. when a 33-year-old man from Shepherd hit a deer with his 2012 Ford Focus on northbound US-127 near Broomfield Road, just southeast of Mt. Pleasant, according to the Isabella County Sheriff’s Office.
While sheriff’s deputies were responding to the scene, they got word that two other vehicles had collided at the scene.
It was dark and misty Monday morning when the driver got out of his car on the expressway, according to the sheriff’s office, who believes the collision with the deer disabled his Focus’s headlights and taillights.
That is believed to be a factor when a 77-year-old woman from Lansing didn’t see his car until it was too late. When she swerved and tried to miss the car, she hit the man and his car, which was still in the driving lane and not on the shoulder, pushing it into the fast lane of the expressway, the sheriff’s office said.
A 33-year-old Saint Louis man driving a pickup truck then slammed into the empty car, officials said.
The driver of the Ford Focus was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 77-year-old woman was taken to the hospital. Her condition was not known. The driver of the pickup truck refused medical treatment.
While authorities were investigating the original incident, the highway was re-routed at the south Mt. Pleasant exit. During the alternate traffic route, officials say a car slammed into a parked sheriff’s patrol car that was directing traffic.
No one was injured in that crash.
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While the second crash was being handled, yet another crash happened about a half mile south of the off-ramp when someone failed to slow down because of the traffic back-up.
Officials say three cars were involved in that third crash, but again, no one was injured.
The Mt Pleasant Fire Department, Shepherd Police Department, Central Michigan University Police Department and Mobile Medical Response all responded to the scene.
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