A 28-year-old Oxford man is potentially facing charges of drunken driving, child endangerment and driving with a suspended license after he crashed the vehicle carrying his toddler daughter around 9:36 a.m. on Dec. 31.
The man was driving south on Coats Rd. in a 2000 Chevrolet van when, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s report, he ran the stop sign at the Seymour Lake Rd. intersection and broadsided an eastbound 2006 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by a 69-year-old Oxford man.
In the van with the man were his girlfriend, a 22-year-old Oxford resident, and their 15-month-old daughter.
The man, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the van upon impact and received lacerations to the face and head, according to the sheriff’s report. Both of his passengers were uninjured.
The driver of the pickup truck was trapped in his vehicle and had to be extricated by Oxford firefighters. He was concerned his back might be injured.
Everyone was transported to McLaren Oakland hospital in Pontiac for evaluation.
The van driver told the deputy he was arguing with his girlfriend and he tried to stop at the intersection, but the brakes ‘went to the floor? and he didn’t remember what happened after that, the report stated. His girlfriend’s account of the accident was the same.
In his report, the deputy noted he smelled an odor of intoxicants emanating from the van driver.
The van driver told police the brakes had been going bad for the past day or two, however, his father, who owns the vehicle, said as far as he knew, there was nothing wrong with it, according to the report.
The deputy reported an odor of intoxicants coming from the baby’s mother as well. She told him that she and her boyfriend began drinking around midnight, split a 15-pack of beer and stayed up all night, the report stated.
The van driver told the deputy he didn’t believe the amount of alcohol he had consumed affected his driving. He agreed to a blood test at the hospital. Warrants will be sought pending the results, the deputy stated.
Hospital staff turned the baby over to her maternal grandmother and Child Protective Services was notified.