A recent incident in a McDonalds parking lot put a whole new spin on the term “fast food”, however the end result was unfortunately not a quick and tasty meal, but rather a quick attempt to flee the scene of an accident, and a not-so-savory drug bust as well.
It all began with a collisionâŚ.
Troopers from the Michigan State Police Coldwater Post were dispatched to the scene of a hit and run accident that apparently took place at lunch time, in a McDonaldâs parking lot, in Centreville.
Apparently a black Dodge Ram pickup, which was towing a car hauler complete with a car (which as you can imagine, is no small vehicle) had attempted to enter the parking lot via the “exit only” driveway. In the process, the truck crashed into a Dodge minivan attempting to leave the restaurant.
The truck was apparently traveling at enough of a speed to severely damage the minivan, and it ended up on the grassy median between the parking lot and the street. At this point, other people in the parking lot attempted to confront the truck driver and his passenger.
The people inside the pickup truck, realizing what had happened and what would most likely follow, apparently decided that they didn’t feel like sticking around to deal with the aftermath of the accident, and fled the scene.
But lunch is a busy time of day to crash a vehicle and then leave, so there were plenty of witnesses about who could describe the truck to the troopers who arrived minutes later. The fleeing couple’s situation was not helped by the fact that they were driving something as unwieldy and notoriously difficult to hide as a truck pulling a car hauler.
Minutes later, St. Joseph County Sheriff’s deputies began to receive phone calls from concerned drivers who were passed by the truck as it sped out of Centreville and, taking a corner too quickly, ended up losing the car that was atop the hauler. Realizing how much the entire contraption slowed down their flight, the driver apparently got out of his truck and disconnected the hauler at this point as well. He then kept right on driving.
MSP troopers finally found the pickup truck, which was by then located in neighboring Cass County. They arrested the two occupants. But at the site where the truck was found, were a number of other unexpected discoveries as well. Police recovered two other stolen vehicles, two stolen plows and drugs, namely methamphetamines and marijuana.
Investigators from both St. Joseph County, where the hit and run took place, and Cass County, where the stolen items were recovered, are still determining the charges. The identities of the couple, a 48-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, will be released when they are formally arraigned.