STANTON, Mich. — An elderly man has been arraigned after the car he was driving hit a bicycle rider and fled the scene in rural Montcalm County on Monday afternoon.
According to the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office, at 2:21 p.m. Monday deputies responded to a report of a car-bicycle crash on Sheridan Road near Pakes Road in Evergreen Township. It was reported that the car involved had fled the scene.
The investigation revealed that Joseph Pruitt, 27, of Greenville was riding a bicycle southbound on the east shoulder of Sheridan Road when a vehicle traveling northbound on Sheridan Road left the roadway and struck the bicyclist. The vehicle did not stop at the crash scene and continued northbound.
One witness followed the suspect vehicle and was able to obtain a vehicle description and the license plate while another witness stopped at the scene and began to administer first aid to the bicyclist.
Pruitt was transported to Sheridan Community Hospital by Montcalm County Emergency Medical Services. He later was flown by Aeromed helicopter to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids where he was listed in serious condition Monday.
His condition was upgraded to good on Tuesday.
Central Dispatch operators aired the information to area officers. A Michigan State Police trooper was near the home of the vehicle’s registered owner and found the suspect vehicle near that location. The driver, 72-year-old Stanton man, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and held on charges of operating while intoxicated resulting In serious injury and leaving the scene of an injury accident.
On Tuesday afternoon, Albert Alan Ferrier, 72, of Stanton was arraigned in connection with the hit-and-run injury accident. Charges against Ferrier included operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.
Bond was set at $10,000 and Ferrier remains behind bars at the Montcalm County Jail in Stanton.
Assisting agencies included Montcalm County Emergency Services, the Stanton Police Department and the Michigan State Police.
