Brandon Twp.-An elderly woman found her way home? about 60 miles south of here in Wayne? with assistance from a Brandon deputy after the woman endured a nearly 13-hour ordeal that included heavy snow, a flat tire, and early morning hours spent at the Shell gas station on M-15.
On Jan. 1, at about 12:59 a.m., the Brandon deputy was advised to be on the lookout for a possible intoxicated driver on Ortonville Road near Glass Road. The complainant, a Brandon firefighter, said the vehicle was driving under 10 mph in heavy snowfall with a flat front tire. The deputy found the suspect vehicle, driven by the woman, who was not intoxicated, but 89-years-old and lost. She told the deputy she had left her home in Wayne at about 4 p.m. to go to the mall and had been lost since.
She had no credit cards, cash or cell phone. She couldn’t give a phone number for family or friends. The deputy attempted to change the woman’s tire, but one lug nut wouldn’t come off.
He found she had AAA Road Service and called for a tow company, which was also unable to get the tire off. The tow company driver towed her vehicle to the Shell gas station and said he would call for a second truck that would have the capabilities to change the tire. They left the woman at the Shell station for shelter.
Around 5:30 a.m., the deputy drove by the Shell and saw the woman was still there, without help. He called AAA again and they told him her assistance plan was cancelled. He arranged for the tow company to tow her vehicle to her home and requested a driver evaluation form be forwarded to the Secretary of State.