FRASER, Mich. – The plow driver accused of hitting and killing an elderly woman outside a Fraser strip mall was released without any charges, officials said Thursday.
However, charges could still be brought against a 45-year-old Warren man who allegedly ran over an 86-year-old woman twice while on the job. At around 12:31 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the man was in a landscaping truck, clearing and salting the parking lot of a strip mall at 15 Mile and Hayes roads when he hit the woman.
According to officials, the plow truck driver had whipped into the parking lot and pushed snow into a spot. The driver then began backing up at a fast pace, and struck and ran over the 86-year-old woman as she walked from a hair salon back to her car. The driver reportedly pulled forward after the initial hit, running over the woman a second time.
The woman, whose identity was not shared by police, was taken to the hospital, where she died from her injuries.
The driver of the landscaping vehicle, whose identity wasn’t provided either, was arrested at the scene on Tuesday. Fraser police said Thursday, Jan. 18, that the driver had been “released from custody pending further investigation and submission to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.” No charges had been issued as of Thursday, though the prosecutor’s office could decide to issue charges later.
It wasn’t immediately clear what charges the driver might face. Authorities said earlier this week that they were awaiting the results of a toxicology report, but those results were unknown as of Thursday.
The Warren man was said to be hired privately to clear the parking lot. Witnesses at the scene told Local 4 that it took a while for the plow driver to get out of his vehicle after the pedestrian crash occurred.
“The first thing he said when he walked out was ‘Please don’t be dead,’” a stylist from the hair salon told Local 4. “I am like, ‘You don’t want her to be dead ... because you are panicking about yourself.’”
Stylists at Salon Inspire said they ran out to help after hearing the crash, bringing the woman towels and blankets while they waited for first responders. Stylists said the 86-year-old woman was independent and sharp, and was simply heading home after getting her hair done.
“She was going to go grocery shopping, but decided it was too cold, so she was going to go home and stay warm,” the stylist told Local 4.
Hear from the stylists in Shawn Ley’s video report below.