HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – A two-vehicle crash on I-96 in Crockery Township has hospitalized two Muskegon women.
According to Sgt. Brian Buter of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, Stephanie Edelen, 29, of Muskegon, was traveling west on I-96 near the seven-mile marker shortly before 11:30 p.m. yesterday when her 2001 Impala sustained a flat tire.
After the tire went flat, Edelen’s vehicle either slowed or stopped on the inside lane of the interstate and was struck from behind by a second vehicle, driven by Jontaya Salse 20, of Muskegon. While this was occuring, Salse who was also westbound was unable to avoid Edelen’s vehicle and struck it in the rear.
The Edelan vehicle was forced into the median and the Salse vehicle came to rest approximetely 100 yards west on the inside shoulder of the interstate.
Two passengers in Edelen’s vehicle, 28-year-old Shelenthia Willis and 35-year-old Christina Villareal both of Muskegon, were injured in the crash. Stephanie Edelen was not injured.
Willis, the front-seat passenger, is listed in stable condition at Mercy Health in Muskegon. Villareal, a rear-seat passenger, is in serious condition at Mercy Health. Edelen was uninjured in the crash.
There were three passengers in Salse’s vehicle, including two infant children no one was injured.
The crash remains under investigation.
– Mary Ellen Murphy
