Police Identify Driver In Deadly Oakland County Hit-And-Run Crash

WALLED LAKE, MI — Police have identified the driver and another suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 13-year-old girl and injured five others in Walled Lake, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials turned the investigation over to the Oakland County prosecutor’s office, which will determine what criminal charges will be filed against the suspects, whose names were not released by police. Officials also did not say if any arrests were made.

Sheriff Mike Bouchard said "it took a great deal of investigation to identify the suspects and determine who was driving the vehicle."

"There were multiple witness accounts and statements to gather, videos to find and review, the physical examination of multiple vehicles, DNA evidence to gather and process," Bouchard said. "Much of the case has been presented to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, with more to follow."

Officials did say after the crash they believed they were young men in their late teens or early 20s from West Bloomfield.

On March 22, police said a driver in a 2023 Jeep Gladiator ran a red light while fleeing police and slammed into two vehicles near the intersection at Maple Road near Decker roads in Walled Lake.

The Gladiator smashed into a 2010 Honda Fit near the intersection, killing a 13-year-old Commerce Township girl and seriously injuring her 51-year-old mother and 10-year-old sister, officials said.

The mother and her two daughters were taken to a nearby hospital, where the 13-year-old died, officials said.

The 10-year-old sister, who was ejected from the car, and the mother were later released from the hospital, police said.

The Gladiator also hit a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox that a 43-year-old Commerce Township resident was driving with a 10-year-old passenger at the intersection, officials said.

They were both treated for their injuries and were released Wednesday night, officials said. Police said they were both wearing their seatbelts.

The impact from the Honda hit a 2023 Cadillac STX, which was stopped at the light at the intersection, officials said.

The driver of the Cadillac STX, a 58-year-old Commerce Township woman, was treated and released Wednesday night, officials said. Police said she was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.