UPDATE:Dale Robert Melick, 53, from the Wayland area, was arraigned Monday on one count of OWI causing death and two counts of OWI causing serious injury in connection with a May 14 traffic crash that he was apparently involved in with another vehicle that caused the death of a woman and put two others in the hospital with serious injuries. Melick remains jailed on $250,000 bond.
The woman who died at the scene was identified as Jemimah S. Palsce, 36, from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The injured passengers are Scott Robert Foster, 57, last reported in serious condition, and his wife Barbara Ann Foster, 56, last reported in critical condition, both at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office clarified the original report, saying Palsce was not ejected from the vehicle, she had to be extricated. //
ORIGINAL STORY:
An intoxicated Wayland area man fleeing police at high speed from US-131, through the City of Wayland and into Wayland Township apparently was involved in a crash with another vehicle where one person died and two more were seriously injured, the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office reports.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 14, a Gun Lake Tribal Police Department officer alerted other officers when he was nearly sideswiped by a speeding vehicle on south U.S. 131 while enroute to the Allegan County Jail.
An Allegan County Sheriff’s deputy saw the vehicle leave the freeway and head east on 135th Avenue and tried to stop him, but the driver sped away at high speed.
Continuing on 135th, the deputy found what appeared to be the vehicle rolled over in the ditch on 135th Avenue near 4th Street in the township. The driver of the vehicle was trapped in the vehicle and was belligerent and uncooperative.
At about the same time, Allegan Central Dispatch got a 911 call from a person whose car had just been struck by a vehicle in the same area of the roll over crash. The deputy and an officer from the Wayland Police Department immediately searched the area and found a second vehicle rolled over into a dense tree line, making it virtually impossible to see.
The vehicle had three passengers, one who was ejected and died at the scene. The other two passengers were extricated and rushed to Spectrum Health Butterworth; one in serious condition and one in critical condition, officials said.
The driver of the fleeing vehicle, who was found to be intoxicated, was treated and released from Allegan General Hospital and is lodged in Allegan County Jail pending formal charges. The name of the suspect will be released after he is arraigned. The names of the passengers in the vehicle that he struck will be released when notifications have been made.
The crash remains under investigation.
Sheriff’s deputies were assisted by Gun Lake Tribal Police, Michigan State Police, Wayland Police and Wayland Fire Departments and Wayland Area Ambulance.
