Two males were named Monday by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office as victims of a hit-and-run accident that occurred on Saturday night. Additional details of fourteen other family members who were hurt were also released.
On Monday, Perrinton resident Ashley Marie Monroe, 35, was placed under arrest and jailed on a $1 million cash bail on eleven crimes related to the accident.
As they strolled down South Wacousta Road, Monroe is said to have struck sixteen members of the extended family. According to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, six of the injured family members were still hospitalized on Sunday, with one of them being in a severe condition.
The drunk driver crushed two family members—Johnathan Esch, 30, of Grand Haven, and Daniel Harris, 42, of Grand Ledge—as they were strolling on South Wacousta Road, close to Corrison Road.
Both before and during the collision, Monroe was mentioned in allegations of driving erratically by the prosecutor’s office. According to the court records, Monroe’s BAC was twice the legal limit.
On Sunday, after what emergency personnel described as a mass casualty incident, eight more individuals were evaluated for injuries and then discharged.
A 38-year-old woman was listed as critical at an unnamed hospital on Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The police withheld the identities of those injured.
At Monday’s meeting of the Watertown Township Board of Trustees, three locals voiced their displeasure with the speed limit, the absence of stop signs, and the lack of sidewalks along a section of Wacousta Road. Locals have been grumbling about this for a long time.
Although enhancing traffic and roads might be beneficial down the line, Clinton County Sheriff Sean Dush informed the board that such measures would not have averted the accident that occurred on Saturday.
Fire crews from Lansing, Delta Township, and Lansing Township responded to the mass casualty event, which also included officers from DeWitt, DeWitt Township, Bath Township, and the Michigan State Police.