FTFA
A man driving a modified GMC Sonoma truck was critically injured Monday in an accident in which he was flung from the vehicle and it came to rest on top of him, police said.
Police said Todd Prout, 38, was driving a modified truck that was not street-legal eastbound on Mohrle Road near Fowlerville Road in Conway Township when the hood apparently “flew up” and blocked his view at about 4:30 p.m.
“He panicked and locked the brakes,” Sheriff Bob Bezotte said.
The vehicle — which police described as the cab of a 1984 GMC Sonoma placed on top of wheels used for mug-bogging — rolled once, ejecting Prout, who was trapped underneath the vehicle.
Area resident Milo Rohraff used the front-end loader on his tractor to lift the Sonoma off the driver at the crash site, about five miles north of Fowlerville. Attempts to reach Rohraff were unsuccessful Monday night.
A Survival Flight helicopter airlifted Prout to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where he was listed in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday night.
A passenger, identified as Eric Patterson, 32, of Howell, was not injured, Bezotte said.
The sheriff said Prout was not wearing a seat belt, but Patterson was wearing one. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash, Bezotte said.
Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Lisa Roose-Church at (517) 552-2846 or at
[email protected].
