
Wayland Township, Mich. (WZZM) - A 14-year-old Wayland Union Student has died after an accident involving an Allegan County Sheriff's Deputy. Allegan County Sheriff Blaine Koops says around 10:40 Saturday morning several deputies were dispatched after receiving a call of about a man with a gun. According to Michigan State Police 1 unit was headed southbound on 10th street near 125th when a vehicle headed northbound lost control, crossed the median and into the path of the patrol car. Four teens, on their way to go snowboarding, were inside the vehicle. The driver, 16-year-old Brett Dame of Shelbyville, was not hurt. His brother 14-year-old Evan Dame, was riding in the back and received life-threatening injuries. He died Sunday after being on life support for several hours. 17-year-old Ryan Keeney was riding in the front passenger seat. Michigan State Police Sergeant Ken Olney says he was checked at the hospital and then released. The other passenger riding in the rear of the car was 14-year-old Austin Roblyer. Olney says he sustained serious injuries during the crash and is still in the hospital. Police believe the two teens riding in the rear of the white 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix received the worse injuries because the push bumper on the front of the patrol car slammed into the rear passenger section of the Pontiac, nearly collapsing the door inside the vehicle. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families in this very, very difficult situation," said Koops. The sheriff says his department is working with Michigan State Police to investigate the accident. "The actual accident investigation will be done by Michigan State Police out of the Wayland post and we will be doing a parallel investigation as far as our policies procedures and employees actions," said Koops. Officers from both departments spent much of Saturday afternoon inside a Wayland garage where the two cars are being held as evidence. Crash data retrieved from modules in both cars show veteran deputy David Miller was driving consistently around 60 miles per hour with his light and sirens on and the teen driving the Pontiac was driving slightly too fast for road conditions. One of the officers said he "wasn't driving terribly fast, he just lost control on the snow and ended up going on the one shoulder then overcorrected and came over in front of the officer." Lt. Dave Greydanus with Michigan State Police said so far there is no indication that the deputy could have avoided the collision. "At this point and time it appears the roads were icy snow covered and slippery. Most of Allegan County is like that due to the weather conditions we've been having for the last couple of day," he said. "This is a real concern, obviously the weather is going to have an impact troopers and deputies for the next several months." Koops says no officer wants to find himself or herself in a situation like this. "This is a tough thing. I won't diffuse that. I mean this is tough for him. It's tough for us and we will work through this together"
Olney said Miller received minor injuries during the accident and the reserve officer riding with him at the time was not hurt.
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