KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A teenage passenger was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash in Cannon Township at midday Saturday.
Five other people were uninjured in the collision.
At 12:29 p.m. Saturday, Kent County sheriff’s deputies along with the Cannon Township Fire Department and Rockford Ambulance responded to an accident with injuries at the intersection of Kies Street NE and Blakely Drive NE in Cannon Township. The investigation showed that a 2010 Honda Insight was stopped at a stop sign on Blakely when the driver, a 55-year-old man from Courtland Township, moved forward into the intersection and proceeded to make a left turn onto Kies.
At the same time, a 2004 Ford Taurus, occupied by three 16-year-old boys, was eastbound on Kies approaching Blakely. The Ford’s driver attemped to pass the Honda and while doing so lost control of his vehicle, which left the roadway and struck an embankment on the southeast side of the intersection.
The vehicle came to rest in the front yard of a private residence.
Chase Shuple, 16, of Rockford, a rear-seat passenger in the Ford, sustained a severe head injury and was unresponsive. It is unknown if he was wearing a seat belt.
Two citizens removed him from the vehicle and began rescue efforts. When Kent County deputies, Cannon Fire Rescue and Rockford Ambulance arrived they continued the rescue efforts.
Shuple was transported to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids where he was listed in critical condition.
The driver and another passenger in the Ford were not hurt, while the driver and three passengers in the Honda were not injured.
Deputies said alcohol was not a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation by the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
