REED CITY — After a busy day of responding to various weather-related crashes on Sunday, Osceola County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to something that can only be described as bizarre.

Osceola County Sheriff Mark Cool said shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, northbound U.S. 131 near the 20 Mile road exit was closed due to a crash and it didn’t reopen until nearly four hours later.

Cool said the single-vehicle crash involved a male driver from the Upper Peninsula and there is not a lot of information they can share. He said due to the man’s injuries, deputies were not able to talk with him before he was taken to the hospital. He also said the deputies who responded are off until Wednesday and won’t be able to interview the man until at least Wednesday.

“They were busy with the weather and all afternoon they were going to accident after accident. Then this call came out,” Cool said. “It was a busy night.”

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reported that at around 7:25 p.m. Sunday deputies responded to a personal injury crash on the northbound lane of U.S. 131 near mile marker 172 for a personal injury crash involving a vehicle that left the roadway, rolled and became wedged between several trees.

Once on scene, police said deputies learned the Upper Peninsula man exited the vehicle and allegedly attempted to carjack one of the vehicles that had stopped to help. The carjacking attempt failed and police said the driver ran into traffic where he was then struck by a passing vehicle.

The driver sustained life-threatening injuries and bystanders rendered first aid and applied a makeshift tourniquet, according to police. The injured driver was transported to a Munson Healthcare Hospital, but Cool said he wasn’t sure if it was Cadillac or Traverse City. During the investigation of the crash, Cool said the expressway was closed and detoured at the 20 Mile Road exit and east through Tustin, then north on Mackinaw Trail to M-115.

It is uncertain if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash and Cool also said a report will be forwarded to the Osceola County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the attempted carjacking. He said it would be up to him to determine if charges should be brought against the man.

In addition to the deputies, the Michigan State Police, Osceola County EMS, Tustin Fire and Rescue, LeRoy Fire and Rescue, Meceola Central Dispatch and Reed City Towing assisted the sheriff’s office with this incident, according to police.

rcharmoli@cadillacnews.com

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