UPDATE: The Allegan County Sherifff's Office has identified the victims of the Sept. 14 traffic crash in Gun Plains Township. They are the deceased, Theodore Michael Cole, 34, from the Kalamazoo area; Caleb Allen Hawkins, 20, with serious injuries, also from the Kalamazoo area and Matthew Ryan Madill, 20, from the Delton area, with minor injuries. The suspect driver and his passengers will not be identified until after the Allegan County Prosecutor’s Office has reviewed the case.
ORIGINAL STORY:Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a traffic crash about 9:30 p.m. Thursday on 10th Street near 110th Avenue in Gun Plain Township where they found one severely injured person and another person who had died at the scene. Several family members of the victims were on scene and witnessed the crash, according to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office.
The crash remains under investigation, but officials said at this point it is apparent that a vehicle was disabled on the side of 10th Street and two persons were working on it and an attached heavy flatbed trailer. A second vehicle traveling northbound did not see the vehicle and trailer and clipped the back of the trailer, causing fatal injuries to one person and severe injuries to the other. That person was transported to a hospital.
The occupants of the second vehicle were wearing seatbelts and suffered only minor injuries. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor, officials said. The question of visibility is still being investigated. Names of those involved will be released later. Michigan State Police troopers, Gun Plain Township Fire Department and Wayland EMS assisted deputies.
