Full Notification

On Wednesday, August 30, 2017, at approximately 10:34 P.M., the Columbia Township Police Department and Columbia Township Fire Department (rescue) were dispatched to a personal injury accident on Jefferson Road between Keast Drive and Q Lane.

Arriving personnel found that a motorcyclist traveling westbound on Jefferson had collided with another vehicle, the motorcycle left the roadway, and the rider was thrown from the motorcycle. Columbia Township rescue personnel and Jackson Community Ambulance responded to the scene and treated the victim, who was then transported to Henry Ford Allegiance Hospital with head injuries.

The injured motorcycle rider is Gerald Edward Odell, 50 years, of Blackman Township. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, and he was last known to be in stable condition.

A witness to the accident was also on a motorcycle, also traveling westbound, approximately 250 feet behind Odell. This witness, a friend of the injured rider, advised he saw two sets of oncoming (eastbound) headlights from two passenger vehicles. The witness reported that as one eastbound vehicle passed the other (by what he observed of the two sets of headlights), Odell was struck, near the centerline.

The witness’s observations were hampered by the darkness, and were primarily of the oncoming headlights. The eastbound vehicle that struck the motorcyclist did not stop at the scene, and continued eastbound on Jefferson Road.

It is currently unknown if speed was a contributing factor in the accident, and the possibility of alcohol being involved is currently being investigated as well. Through the investigation, the suspect vehicle that fled the scene is believed to be a 2007 to 2014 Ford Edge, white in color, with damage to the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Columbia Township Police were assisted at the scene by an accident investigator, Trooper Jim King of the Michigan State Police.

Anyone with information on this accident is requested to contact the Columbia Township Police Department at 517-592-3122.