Full Notification

The Columbia Township Police Department is currently investigating a single-car personal injury accident that was reported at 1:38 A.M. on Sunday, December 1, 2013, at Jefferson Road near Wesch Road. The accident was reported by passers-by.

On arrival, Officer Szentmiklosi determined that there was a single vehicle involved in the accident, with the driver being the lone occupant. The driver, Dale Duhaime, 22 of Columbia Township, appeared to have left the roadway for an unknown reason, striking a tree on the South side of Jefferson Road near Wesch. Duhaime was found conscious and injured inside the vehicle, a 2007 Ford Focus, which was heavily damaged.

Duhaime was extricated from the vehicle by the Columbia Township Fire Department using the “Jaws”, and he was then transported to Allegiance Hospital in Jackson by Jackson Community Ambulance. He was later transferred by helicopter to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.

Duhaime did not appear to have been wearing his seatbelt, evidenced in part by the heavy impact on the steering wheel and windshield of the vehicle. Injuries included facial, as well as likely internal and right-side injuries.

Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the accident, and possible charges are pending the results of blood-alcohol testing.