Snowy weather causes several accidents
Recent snowstorms and poor weather conditions have kept the Presque Isle County Sheriff?s Department busy over the last week. Officers responded to several accidents during the last eight days, but the day that created the most problems for motorists was during a 12-hour period, December 1. Starting at 10 a.m. and running into the evening hours, there was heavy snow, blowing snow, and slush-covered roads reported throughout the county. Central dispatch received calls of more than a dozen accidents, four of which were rollovers. Luckily, none of the accidents involved any serious injuries.
Among the accidents handled, a Cheboygan woman was transported to her hometown hospital for treatment of injuries. Amanda Leigh Cruse, 24, was traveling on US-23 at 1:55 p.m., near the Hammond Bay lookout, when the 1994 Chrysler four-door she was driving went out of control, slid in a counter-clockwise direction, before leaving the road and hitting a tree. The impact occurred just behind the driver?s side door. Cruse was transported to Cheboygan Memorial Hospital by Allied Ambulance. She had been wearing her seatbelt during the crash. The vehicle was not driveable.
? OFFICER?S RESPONDED at 1:30 p.m. to an accident on Long Lake Highway west of Brothers Bay Road in Presque Isle Township. A 2005 Chevy passenger vehicle driven by Susan Jeanne Heath, 51, of Alpena was eastbound when the vehicle started to fish tail, left the road on the south side, and rolled once. Heath, who was the lone occupant, complained of neck pain but refused ambulance service. The v
? A one-vehicle accident at 11:20 a.m. left a 2004 Dodge Durango needing to be removed from the scene after an Alpena driver lost control on West Hawks Highway and went into the ditch. Casey Lee Birmingham, 25, was eastbound on West Hawks Highway near Claus Road in Belknap Township when she lost control of her vehicle coming around a corner. The vehicle left the road on the north side and hit a road sign. Along with the impact damage, the vehicle also sustained three flat tires. The lone occupant was uninjured.
? THE SLUSH-COVERED roads caused another accident earlier in the day on County Road 638 Highway in Case Township. Loretta Susan LaPointe, 59, of Posen was traveling northwest near Spile Dam Road at 10 a.m. when she lost control of the 1997 four-door Toyota she was traveling in, slid across the opposite lane and into the ditch, where it hit a tree. There was extensive damage to the front end, but the vehicle was driveable according to the report. LaPointe was the only occupant in the vehicle and was wearing her seatbelt.