SCHOOLCRAFT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office says the victims of a crash involving a careless driver is a couple from Centerville.
Investigators say 50-year-old Jamie Jourdan, who was a passenger in the second vehicle, was killed.
An undated courtesy photo of Bill Jourdan and Jamie Jourdan. Her husband, Bill Lee Jourdan, 44, was taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital with serious injuries.
The other driver, 18-year-old Wyatt Thomas Hardy of Vicksburg, remains in the hospital with serious injuries.
Investigators say the incident started Sunday when a Schoolcraft officer spotted a person driving “carelessly” in the village and then turning south onto 14th Street. The officer turned on his cruiser's flashing lights and tried to catch up to the car, but authorities said it was going too fast.
Authorities say the careless driver eventually rear-ended another car that was stopped at the stop sign on 14th Street and XY. Dashcam video shows the officer arriving at the scene moments after the crash, which mangled both vehicles.
A local fire chief who lives nearby stopped his car in the road, turned on its emergency lights and began to help those involved in the crash. However, Jourdan died at the scene.
Authorities shut down the intersection for hours as they investigated the crash. The roadway has since reopened.