Young woman mourned after traffic accident claims life

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor– A Rogers City family is mourning the loss of a 19-year-old after she died of injuries sustained in an accident Friday night along Bradley Highway. According to a press release from the Rogers City Police Department, Sarah Erickson was crossing Bradley Highway from west to east and was struck by a pickup truck driven by Dominic Hentkowski, 67, of Rogers City.

Erickson, who had just gotten off an Indian Trails bus at Bayport (Sunoco), after attending a concert in Grand Rapids, was walking to her apartment complex along Wenonah Drive. ?She crossed at the exit of the Onaway Credit Union,? said police chief Matt Quaine. ?It looks like she was heading to the chamber parking lot.? The accident occurred in the northbound lane in front of the Rogers City Area Chamber of Commerce driveway. ?He was driving northbound 20 to 30 mph,? said Quaine.

Hentkowski?s account of the accident, according to Quaine, is ?there were about a half a dozen vehicles traveling southbound (and) one of them had their bright lights on. He didn?t see her until impact.?

Erickson was transported by Allied EMS to Alpena Regional Medical Center and later airlifted to Saginaw St. Mary?s Hospital. She passed away on Sunday. Her obituary appears on page 7A. Police had a portion of Bradley Highway closed from the time of the accident at 8:30 p.m. until 11:40 p.m. Accident reconstructionists from the Presque Isle County Sheriff?s Department assisted the city police at the scene.

?Detective Steve Porter asked the accident investigator from Alpena County, who they work with quite a bit, to come up and take a look at the scene as well, to try and determine the speed of the vehicle,? said Quaine. ?The reconstructionists have some work to do.? Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the incident, the press release states.

ERICKSON HAD been taking prerequisite courses at Alpena Community College (ACC) with dreams of becoming a pastry chef. She had been working at Scill?s Grill (former Black Bear Caf?). Owners Scott and Jill Schroeder carried her employment over when the ownership changed. She worked as a prep-cook/dishwasher. ?She was my right-hand person in the kitchen,? said Scott. ?We just all became very close, because you work side-by-side with somebody. She was just like a sister and a daughter. This has been pretty difficult, if you can imagine.? Scott talked to her Friday morning from Grand Rapids. She was there to see the independent band, VersaEmerge.

?I was worried about her going to the concert,? Scott said. ?She had

called Friday morning that she was safe and that she had an absolute fantastic time. She got to meet the band, I said, ?wonderful.? I said, ?I?ll see you Saturday.? Saturday morning we got a call from her grandpa telling us what happened.? The Schroeders closed the restaurant early Saturday. Scott would like to contact Rogers City High School (RCHS) officials about starting a scholarship fund in her memory. Erickson, who moved from Phoenix when she was 12, ?grew to love this town and the people in it,? said family friend Tina Derry. She was student of the year at RCHS her senior year, and also as a freshman at ACC.

Derry said ?Family and friends were most important to her.? She also was devoted to her cat Alita. ?Sarah?s beautiful smile touched so many lives.?

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