COOPER TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Authorities were seeking a pickup truck due to reports that it was driving erratically minutes before it struck a group of bicyclists on a street in western Michigan, killing five, a local prosecutor said.
Four other bicyclists suffered serious injuries in the crash early Tuesday evening in Cooper Township and were being treated at area hospitals, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting said during a news conference Tuesday night.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” Getting said. “I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.”
The driver of the pickup, described as a 50-year-old western Michigan man, fled from the wrecked vehicle, and police caught him a short time later. He remains in custody. No charges have yet been filed, but they could come by Thursday, Getting said.
Authorities began receiving calls about a blue pickup truck about 30 minutes before the crash, he said.