'Lives will be changed forever': Eastpointe man facing multiple charges in New Year's Day drunk driving crash that killed 1, seriously injured another
(WWJ) - An Eastpointe man is facing multiple serious charges in a New Year's Day crash in Detroit after police say he was drunk when he slammed into a tow truck, killing one person and injuring another.
"This is a very hard, but unfortunately not a surprising way to start the New Year. Lives will be changed forever," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement about the incident that unfolded at the intersection of Hayes Street and Young Street in Detroit just before 3 a.m. on January 1st.
Detroit police allege De-L Alekshay-Makalo Wesley, 49, of Eastpointe, was drunk when the Chevrolet Tahoe he was driving slammed into a tow truck that was assisting another driver.
According to investigators, Wesley was traveling southbound on Hayes Street when he cashed into the tow truck, which then caused it to strike both the 35-year-old male tow truck operator from Inkster and his customer, 27-year-old Dylan Bradford of Detroit, as they were both standing next to Bradford's vehicle.
Police confirmed the tow truck operator and Wesley were both rushed to a local hospital while medics pronounced Bradford dead at the scene.
De-L Alekshay-Makalo Wesley was charged and arraigned on January 3rd from his hospital room on the following charges: Reckless Driving Causing Death, Reckless Driving Causing Serious Impairment of a Body Function (surviving victim) Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death, and Operating While Intoxicated Causing Serious Injury (surviving victim).
He was given a a $100,000 cash bond. If he posts bond an is released, he will be placed under house arrest with a GPS and alcohol tether.
"The evidence in this case will show that alcohol was involved when the defendant was driving. Now a man is dead and another is seriously injured," Worthy said.
Wesley's Probable Cause Conference is scheduled for January 12 in 36th District Court.
