In Lakeview, Michigan, Fatal Accident and Gas Station Robbery Happen Within Hours, Less Than One Mile Apart

Lakeview, Michigan -- Early this afternoon there was a very bad vehicle accident that occurred at the intersection of M-46 and M-91 . An eyewitness reported to me (after reporting to the police) that a car pulled out in front of a double-tanker that was hauling milk. The tanker tried to stop, couldn't, hit the car, jackknifed the second (rear) tanker, which then flipped onto a car. I don't know if it was the same car, or another one. Several hour later another source reported that he had heard an elderly woman died in the wreck. It took several hours to clear that wreck. The truck was hauling milk, not gasoline or anything more serious. The Wood TV 8 website has a story on this here.

The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of the family. My thoughts and prayers go out to them at this time. The case is still being investigated, and the one eyewitness report I've heard should not be construed as complete fact or truth.

Also tonight the J&H Oil / Exxon Mobile, located about a block down from that intersection on M-46 (next door to Dollar General) was robbed, at approximately 8 pm. The manager reports that everyone there is ok. I spoke with a state police officer who says to be on the lookout for the suspect described as a 50'ish year old man, dark hair, dark beard, dark rimmed /thick rimmed glasses, driving a silver chevy silverado. The year of the vehicle is unknown at this time. No other details at this time.

I work at the Dollar General next door to this station. When my co-worker and I left to go to our cars, we saw the lights were out next door on the overheads, and two police cars were in the parking lot, and no body to be seen in the store. We walked over to the parking lot, but still couldn't see anyone, so we went back to our parking lot, and called the gas station on my cell. The manager answered, and reported that the girls there were ok. A police officer then came over to talk to us about if we had seen anything (no, we were finishing up behind locked doors at that point), and to give us the description of the suspect, and ask us to keep an eye out. We took notes, and told him we would let our manager & assistant manager know, as they would be working tomorrow.

If this suspect had been in our store, it would have been much earlier. He certainly wasn't in there in the last 45 minutes or so that we were open....and I don't recall anyone fitting that description being in at all today. The beard and glasses would have stood out.

It's a sad fact that our little town is not quite as safe as it once was. That intersection is a very busy one, and as has now been proven, can be dangerous. And crime continues to rise in the area, no doubt fueled by the lack of employment in the entire county. Michigan routinely has one of the highest unemployment rates in the United States, and Montcalm County, where Lakeview is located, has one of the highest unemployment rates of the state. Last reports I heard was that we were sitting at about 20 percent unemployment, and that doesn't include people like me, who are woefully "underemployed".

Hug your loved ones extra hard after you read this. There's one less lady going home tonight. The only bright spot in this is, at least the ladies from the gas station will be going home. Shaken, perhaps, but alive.