Just-retired truck driver killed in Orion Township crash with suspects fleeing police
By Guy Gordon - Reporter/Anchor , Halston Herrera - Digital news editor Posted: 2:36 PM, July 11, 2016 Updated: 6:44 PM, July 11, 2016
ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Reo Dockter loved to tinker with cars.
The 75-year-old Independence Township man retired three months ago after spending more than 50 years on the road as a semitruck driver for GM. But it was also on the road that he lost his life Thursday when he was hit by a suspect who was fleeing from police.
Dockter was passing through the intersection of Waldon and Baldwin roads in Orion Township when his van was T-boned by an SUV, police said.
Docker was taken to McLaren Hospital, but died.
Police said the SUV, which was reported stolen out of Pontiac, had been fleeing police after leaving a CVS Pharmacy where a suspect had tried to fill a fraudulent prescription. The suspect in the pharmacy, the 22-year-old driver of the SUV and three other people who were inside the SUV were arrested, police said. Charges are pending.
Dockter’s family declined an interview with Local 4 but said he was a beloved father and grandfather. He and his wife were married for 35 years.
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Man dies after being struck by suspects fleeing police in Orion Township
The suspects ran a red light before crashing into the victim
By Sierra Pedraja - Digital News Editor Posted: 3:37 PM, July 09, 2016 Updated: 3:39 PM, July 09, 2016
ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A 75-year-old Independence Township man died after his van was struck by a car fleeing police in Orion Township, police say
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to a call about a prescription fraud in progress at a CVS Pharmacy in the 3400 block of Baldwin Road, Thursday night.
When officers arrived, they arrested the suspect who was trying to fill the fake prescription.
Four other suspects waiting outside in a blue SUV fled when other deputies arrived at the scene.
Officers followed the suspects, and attempted a traffic stop.
Police say the fleeing suspects SUV ran a red light at the intersection between Waldon and Baldwin, before striking a van driven by the 75-year-old victim.
The victim was transported to McLaren Hospital-Oakland, where he was pronounced dead.
The four suspects were also transported to hospitals for serious injuries.
The 22-year-old male driver of the vehicle was arrested, and is under police watch at the hospital and police say the blue SUV was a stolen vehicle out of Pontiac.
His three passengers were released from the hospital and are free pending further investigation.
THE DEADLY U.S. ROADS: 36,000 PEOPLE KILLED LAST YEAR, MILLIONS INJURED, BILLIONS IN PROPERTY DAMAGE.