SPARTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A Sparta man was seriously injured Thursday morning after hitting a tree that had fallen in the road while driving his off-road vehicle.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office says that Derek Bellows, 23, was driving a 2000 Yamaha “quad” on 14 Mile Road west of Phelps Avenue sometime between 3 and 6 a.m. when he hit the tree. Deputies were called to the scene at about 6:30am and found Bellows lying in the roadway. He had not been wearing a helmet.
The sheriff’s office originally reported that Bellows had died in the hospital. However, at 5 p.m. they sent out an update saying that he was “clinically deceased” but “still on a ventilator.”
The crash is still under investigation and it is not known if alcohol or speed were factors in the crash.
