VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich.—
A young boy is hospitalized after being thrown off a Jeep he was riding on that was being driven by a drunken driver Friday night.At 8:08 p.m. Friday, Van Buren County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to a report of a personal injury accident in a parking lot at the Bangor Conference Center at M-43 and County Road 687 in Bangor Township. The investigation showed that a 34-year-old man from Bangor was driving a 1989 Jeep Wrangler on a relative's property across the street when he drove over to some children on the Conference Center property, told them to quiet down and at some point his 7-year-old son climbed onto the vehicle without the driver's knowledge.
The driver then drove across County Road 687 to a parking lot where he hit some type of pothole or bump and lost control of the vehicle, causing the child to fall off.
The child was then run over by the Jeep's passenger side rear wheel. He was treated at the scene by EMS personnel and then was transported to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo with non-life-threatening injuries including a broken right arm and abrasions to his chest, back and left knee.
Police said the 7-year-old is expected to make a full recovery.
The driver admitted to consuming alcohol and showed signs of intoxication during initial contact with deputies. He later tested at well above the legal limit of .08.
The driver was arrested, was cited for operating while intoxicated and is being held at the Van Buren County Jail.
The case has been turned over to the Van Buren County Prosecutor's Office. Deputies also contacted Child Protective Services and advised that office of the incident, which remains under investigation by the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department.
