WRIGHT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office says the arm on a small scrap excavator detached from the bed of a dump truck Tuesday afternoon on westbound I-96 in the Marne area and struck a car.
It happened around 5:08 p.m. at the 16th Avenue overpass, near exit 23.
Police say in a news release an on-scene investigation showed that Timothy Postma was driving the dump truck westbound in the right lane when the arm of the excavator struck the bridge at 16th Avenue: “The collision with the bridge caused the arm of the excavator to become detached and it fell onto the westbound vehicle driven by Michael Fuetz that was in the left lane next to the truck.The arm then fell onto the roadway where it was struck by an additional westbound vehicle which resulted in minor damage to that vehicle and no injuries. ”
The Sheriff’s Office says Fuetz was pinned in his vehicle for a short time before a rescue crew from the Wright-Tallmadge Fire Department pulled him out of the vehicle. He was then driven by a Life EMS ambulance to Mercy Health Hackley Hospital in Muskegon in good condition, but with minor injuries.
The left lane of I-96 was shut down for about an hour while the investigation was investigated, and while a flatbed truck towed away the damaged vehicle.
Postma was cited by police for a load-height violation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The bridge on 16th Avenue over I-96 was damaged, and police say the Michigan Department of Transportation is evaluating the damaged. But the 16th Avenue bridge overpass remains open.
Central Dispatch Authority says a large piece of equipment flew off a dump truck and struck another vehicle Tuesday afternoon on westbound I-96.
FOX 17 images – 3-12-2019
