WRIGHT TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – A three-vehicle pileup near Coopersville on Sunday night hospitalized a 41-year-old Saginaw man and his 11-year-old daughter.
According to Ottawa County Sheriff’s Sergeant Matt Wildfong, Wyatt Sisson was apparently heading home from a visit to the Lakeshore when his SUV was caught up in a slowdown around 9:30 PM on eastbound I-96 near the 48th Avenue exit due to a crash in the westbound lanes. He was driving with his wife and two children, while another SUV, driven by 68-year-old John Kalinka of Ada, was also slowed down nearby as a semi, driven by 51-year-old Gregory Harter of Croswell, was bearing down from behind. “Halter realized that he was not going to be able to stop in time,” Wildfong explained, “so he began to veer to the right, toward the ditch, trying to avoid a collision. He struck a 2004 Jeep in the right rear corner, causing that vehicle to be propelled forward at an angle into a 2004 Chevrolet Blazer. After the impact, the semi truck went into the ditch on the south side of the highway.”
Sisson’s family was in the Blazer, and he and his daughter Kayla were taken to Spectrum-Butterworth Hospital in stable condition. His wife and younger son, as well as the other two drivers involved, were not hurt. The freeway was closed for about an hour while the semi was being moved out of the ditch, and Harter was cited in the matter, which remains under investigation.
