Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Driver and 3-Year-Old Involved in 23 Mile and Hayes Crash Die

The driver of a vehicle that ran a red light last night at 23 Mile Road and Hayes, hitting a minivan carrying a family of five, has passed away. A 3-year-old child passenger in the minivan has also died.

A 3-year-old passenger and the female driver of a vehicle involved in a crash Monday night on 23 Mile Road have passed away, according the the Shelby Township police.

The crash, which occurred around 8:45 p.m. at the intersection of 23 Mile and Hayes roads sent all six people involved, including three children, to the hospital.

Police said the woman who died was driving an Oldsmobile west on 23 Mile Road when she ran a red light and hit a minivan traveling south on Hayes Road. There were five people in the minivan, an adult male and female and three children.

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Doug Goad, owner of the Corner Clock Restaurant at the corner of 23 and Hayes, said he was serving dinner when patrons in the restaurant screamed after witnessesing the crash.

Goad said he called 911, and ran out to help. The moments following the crash will haunt Goad forever, he said. The father of the children climbed back into the van and handed the 3-year-old out the window to people on the streets, he said.

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Goad, with tears in his eyes, said he and a nurse on scene tried to resuscitate the child until paramedics arrived. 

"We laid her down on the grass, and the nurse started pumping her chest to get blood flow back, and she asked me to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and she came back a few times," he said choking back tears.

The child's mother was trapped in the front of the vehicle and had to be extracited by the Jaws of Life, according to Goad.

Meanwhile, people at the scene worked to free the driver of the Oldsmobile from the vehicle until police arrived.

Police have not released the names of the driver of the victims in the crash until all family has been notified.

Shelby Township Police Chief Roland Woelkers did say the child is from Macomb Township and the driver who died was from Sterling Heights.

Woelkers told Patch the other children and one adult were treated and released from the hospital. The mother of the three children remains hospitalized.

Preliminary investigations reveal the female driver who died may have been drinking, Woelkers said.

The intersection was re-opened several hours after the crash.

This accident is currently under investigation, and anyone who may have witnessed it is asked to call the Shelby Township Police Department at 586-731-2121.

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