KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office has completed its review of a wrong way crash along U.S. 131 in early March that killed three people. An autopsy report revealed that the at-fault driver was legally "super drunk" at the time of the crash.
The March 3 crash happened just north of Stadium
Deadly wrong way crash along U.S. 131 near Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo County (March 3, 2017)
Drive in Oshtemo Township around 4:45 p.m. that day. Investigators determined a Ford Fiesta had entered the highway at Stadium Drive heading north in the southbound lanes before colliding head-on with a pickup truck.
"Several cars in the area tried to alert the driver to not go down that way but he did anyway," said Sheriff Richard Fuller of Kalamazoo County. "We find that the driver of the at-fault vehicle, also a deceased person now, was carrying a blood alcohol of .21."
The sheriff's office released the autopsy results on Tuesday. It revealed that 59-year-old Mark Alan Witsaman was nearly three times the legal limit while driving his Ford Fiesta at the time of the crash on that sunny afternoon. The legal limit for BAC for drivers in Michigan is .08.
"We recognize that drunk-driving is a 24/7 proposition," said Sheriff Fuller. "That it doesn’t matter what time of day or night, what day of the week, how nice the whether is, if it’s a holiday or not. We know that there are people intoxicated driving on these roads, so we’re out there looking for them."
Witsaman and his 88-year-old mother Elma were killed instantly in the crash. Victoria Mitchell, 57, of Kalamazoo, was in the pick-up truck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Ultimately, what we are focusing on right now is helping people understand that that tragic three-person fatality on US-131 and Stadium Drive on March 3, ultimately alcohol was the contributing factor," said Sheriff Fuller.
