PUBLISHED: Friday, September 21, 2007
Alma man killed in crash

By SUSAN FIELD
Clare Managing Editor

Emergency personnel work at a car accident scene at the south Mt. Pleasant U.S. 127 on-ramp, where one man was killed and four others were injured Thursday.

A 57-year-old Alma man died and four others were injured in a head-on collision in Isabella County’s Union Township Thursday afternoon.

Isaac Mark Royer died at the scene of the 2:32 p.m. crash on the south Mt. Pleasant U.S. 127 business loop about a mile south of South Mission Road, Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said.

Royer was driving a 2005 Toyota Prius toward southbound U.S. 127 when he attempted to pass a vehicle and hit a northbound 1998 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Patrico Morales Mendez, 20, the sheriff said.

Mendez and his three passengers, Juan Nava, 19; Antonio Hernandez Soloza, 38; and Jose Rodriguez Garcia, 17, were taken by ambulance to Central Michigan Community Hospital for treatment of what appears to be non life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said.

Two of the four were treated and released to police because they are suspected to be illegal aliens, Mioduszewski said.

Mendez faces charges for being an unlicensed driver, and the two that remained hospitalized will be arrested and taken to the Isabella County jail upon their release until authorities from Immigration and Customs Enforcement determine what their resident status is, the sheriff said

Police and fire officials closed the U.S. 127 south business loop for about two hours while investigating the crash as onlookers watched from neighboring houses.

Information was difficult to obtain initially because none of the four men in the pickup truck speak English and two were expected to be flown to other hospitals for treatment.

Hector Latorre, a bailiff at the Isabella County Trial Court, was called to the scene to translate for officers.

Latorre later went to the hospital to obtain more information from the four men, the sheriff said.

A dog that was in one of the vehicles involved was taken from the scene by police and appeared to be uninjured.

While investigating the accident, several officers were called to another crash at 3:25 p.m. at South Isabella and East Broomfield roads.

Sheriff’s Deputies and police from other agencies controlled traffic at the intersection as troopers from the state police post in Mt. Pleasant investigated that accident.

Vehicles driven by a 17-year-old Mt. Pleasant man and a 54-year-old Harrison woman collided in that crash, Trooper Sean Harmon said.

The 17-year-old was following another car north in Isabella Road through a yellow light and was attempting to turn left when the Harrison woman’s car hit his pickup truck broadside, turning it onto its side, Harmon said

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