‘Miracle’ nobody got hurt or killed by SUV driver
by Richard Lamb–Advance Editor
By the grace of God, Rogers City avoided what could have been a horrible tragedy after an SUV traveling at a high rate of speed raced through one of the city’s major streets before crashing into a parked van. As we reported in earlier articles, nobody sustained injuries along the path of the SUV or at the point of impact.
“I really think it was a miracle that there wasn’t any injury or fatalities. It is unreal,” is how Rogers City Police chief Matt Quaine termed last night’s incident near the Ferris Wheel amusement ride. A 52 year-old Erie, MI resident has been lodged in the Presque Isle County jail after his vehicle slammed into a parked van, sending the van into the Ferris Wheel operated by Schmidt Amusements for the Nautical City Festival in Rogers City. The man is yet to be charged, so his name is not available as of this writing.
Multiple witnesses observed the black Ford SUV racing at great speed eastbound on Erie Street, ignoring crowds gathered for the first night of carnival rides at the festival, before it finally crashed.
Quaine said an officer making a routine pass through the high school parking lot saw the SUV speed past, heading for the downtown area.
“He’s estimating it at above 80 mph. So by the time he gets into position to take some kind of action on it, the vehicle is gone and out of sight. As (the officer) is coming down Erie Street people are just pointing. The crash had happened at that time,” Quaine said, noting that there was nothing the officer could have done to prevent the crash at that point.
Quaine said central dispatch received no reports of the speeding SUV that night, but he did get some today (Thursday) who recalled seeing the vehicle in question. One caller put the SUV as traveling at 80 mph past Klee Road, about three miles west of Rogers City.
“I don’t have all the witness statements in yet, but it is my understanding that there are witnesses who observed him drive right through the M-68/US-23 intersection. We do know that he blew right through Third and Erie and then impacted the van. There are a lot of witnesses out there,” Quaine said. “You can always play the what if game but it looked like if that van had not been there, the direction of that SUV would have put it right into Lakeside Park.”
In spite of the high rate of speed through a crowded area, Quaine said the SUV did not strike anything or anyone until impacting the unoccupied parked van. Even the driver of the SUV was uninjured in the crash, Quaine said, as airbags were deployed.
The suspect, who was the only person in the vehicle, was removed from his vehicle around 8:45 p.m. and lodged in jail overnight.
Quaine said it could take some time before toxicology tests on the suspect’s blood will be returned.
It is not known if the Erie resident had any connections to the area or from where his trip Wednesday originated.
According to witnesses, a black Ford SUV raced east on Erie Street at a high rate of speed, ignoring the four-way stop at Third and Erie, then crossing past a stop sign at First Street before it slammed into to a parked van owned by Richard Miles. The Miles van was parked in a handicapped area next to the Ferris wheel. The van stopped the progress of the black Ford SUV, but pushed the van into the Ferris wheel moving it about five feet, according to the operator. Four of the seats on the amusement ride were occupied, but no injuries were sustained.
Although the Ferris Wheel was closed for the night Wednesday, repairs were made Thursday. The Nautical City Festival has not told the Advance of any schedule changes.
“The state inspector is on his way to inspect the reset Ferris Wheel. Everything should be up and running,” said longtime Nautical Festival Committee member Mike Myers, who was on the scene of the crash within moments after it occurred.
Two concrete barriers were placed at the Erie Street and Michigan Avenues entrances to the carnival today.