Senior Detroit Department of Transportation officials abused their authority by shielding employees who disrupted bus service by having “a romantic interaction,” abandoned a running city bus, and violated workplace rules, a Detroit Office of Inspector General investigation found. The findings are detailed in a final OIG report that describes “employee misconduct and lapses in disciplinary […]
Freezing rain and ice created hazardous conditions Friday in southeast Michigan, causing flight cancellations and vehicle accidents across the region.
The National Weather Service had issued a winter weather advisory for Metro Detroit north through the M-59 and Interstate 69 corridors, including St. Clair, Washtenaw, Genesee, Saginaw, Tuscola and Sanilac counties.
According to the weather service’s storm report map, Saginaw recorded the most freezing rain on Friday, with just over a quarter-inch. Detroit got about 0.14 inches.
The agency received reports of downed tree branches in areas including Bay City and Port Huron.
The ice accumulation caused several accidents, including multiple crashes on I-75 near Saginaw. The Michigan Department of Transportation’s Bay Region, which covers the Mt. Pleasant, Saginaw, Flint and the Thumb areas of the state, reported at least six crashes that temporarily closed lanes along the freeway on Friday.
Among them were collisions on the Zilwaukee Bridge, which was closed in both directions, according to MDOT. WNEM Saginaw reported that multiple semi-trucks jackknifed on the Saginaw River span due to slippery conditions.
By 11:30 a.m., both directions of the bridge had reopened to traffic, MDOT reported.
On Facebook, Saginaw County 911 Central Dispatch wrote that I-75 was “completely shut down” in both directions due to the crashes. The agency warned drivers to avoid the area if possible and drive carefully.
Traffic on the Mackinac Bridge slowed to 20 miles per hour due to ice on the bridge deck, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority website.
As the rain arrived early Friday, more than 40 flights scheduled to depart from Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus have been cancelled, according to its flight status website. The cancellations may impact travelers returning home from the Christmas holiday.
“Currently, we’re not experiencing icy conditions at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Flight delays or cancellations are determined by the airlines,” Cortez Strickland, a DTW spokesperson, wrote in an email.
“In anticipation of icy conditions, our Airfield Operations and Maintenance teams have pre-treated the runways and taxiways. Crews will continue to monitor the situation.”
Ice continued to fall in some areas into the early afternoon hours, according to NWS data.
“Untreated surfaces will be coated with ice, and we should see more freezing rain throughout the day,” said Kevin Kacan, a meteorologist with the NWS Detroit office.
“The big thing is travel. Any roadway not treated with salt can be slick and dangerous to drive on.”
Temperatures in southeastern Michigan just cracked the freezing point Friday afternoon. In Detroit, which tends to be the warmest point in the region, highs peaked at 34 degrees Fahrenheit around 4 p.m.
On Saturday, temperatures will continue to hover around freezing, up to 35. But it will warm up more on Sunday, with a high of 49, according to the NWS.
Both branches of the West Bloomfield Township library were closed on Friday due to the rain, according to an email from the library system.
Power outages were reported across the area after ice accumulated on tree limbs and other surfaces.
The Consumers Energy power outage map showed that more than 4,000 customers lost power Friday morning along the I-75 corridor near Prescott in Ogemaw County. The map reported the cause of the outage as “storm damage.” By Friday evening, more than 25,000 Consumers customers were still without power, mainly in the central part of the Lower Peninsula. As of Saturday mid-morning, Consumers showed 14,667 customers without power from 303 outages, mostly in central Michigan.
Early Friday afternoon, nearly 30,000 DTE Energy customers were without power across southeast Michigan. By the evening hours, that number was down to about 13,000 with Lake Orion and other parts of northeast Oakland County among the hardest hit in the region.
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Tree branches were weighted with ice throughout Michigan on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (Stephen Frye / MediaNews Group)
Royal Oak police have released additional information about a woman crashing her vehicle into the Ulta Beauty store on Woodward Avenue early Sunday morning — alleging she had been fleeing officers and is suspected of drunk driving.
Katrina Deann-Renee Patterson, 26, is charged with multiple felonies:
• Fleeing police — third-degree
• Assault/resist/obstruct police
• Two counts of felonious assault
• Malicious destruction of a building
• Malicious destruction of personal property
• Malicious destruction of police property
Katrina Patterson booking photo
According to a news release from Royal Oak Police Lt. Rich Millard, the incident unfolded at around 12:40 a.m. Nov. 9 when officers responded to a report of a white SUV driving on the railroad tracks near West Fourth Street and South Center Street. Officers reportedly spotted an open container of alcohol in the SUV, which had a tire “going flat,” and the driver — identified as Patterson — refused to cooperate with them. She then took off in her SUV, down Washington Avenue.
The police pursuit continued onto Farnum Avenue, onto Oakridge Avenue and then into an alley paralleling Woodward where Patterson reportedly turned; she accelerated and lost control of her vehicle, crashing into the Ulta store, the release states.
Patterson allegedly tried to flee while her SUV was fully lodged in the building, “backing up and ramming a patrol car,” the release states. She kept trying to drive away, moving the SUV further into the store where she caused thousands of dollars in damage, the release states.
After the SUV became lodged on debris, Patterson was taken into custody without further incident, the release states.
Patterson is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time, but that determination is pending blood test results, the release states.
The amount of damage caused in the crash has not yet been determined.
An unidentified worker removing debris from the store on Sunday (Jeff Payne/MediaNews Group)
Patterson and a male passenger — who was cited for having open alcohol in the vehicle — were medically evaluated for minor injuries suffered in the crash. No officers were injured.
“We are extremely fortunate this suspect did not seriously injure or kill our officers, herself, her passenger or anyone else during this reckless incident,” said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Of the criminal charges Patterson faces, malicious destruction of a building carries the stiffest possible penalty — up to 10 years in prison. The other crimes have possible penalties ranging from two years to five years incarceration.
Patterson is held in the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $50,000 — with no 10% provision. Her next court appearance is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 21.
Patterson’s criminal history includes a 2023 conviction for operating while intoxicated in Port Huron.
Recent similar incidents
This is the third reported incident in recent days of vehicles crashing into buildings in Oakland County.
Last Thursday, six people were hurt when a 77-year-old Bloomfield Hills woman drove into the Thai Taste To Go restaurant on Telegraph Road near Long Lake Road in Bloomfield Township.
And on Oct. 27 in Troy, a 45-year-old woman reportedly crashed a Chevy Equinox into the side of a residence on Woodside Trail. In that incident, police said witnesses reported that prior to the crash the woman hit a trailer while making a left turn, and then her vehicle rolled down the hill into the building. After she refused to submit to a breath test, officers were granted a search warrant to have medical personnel draw her blood and the case was subsequently turned over to the detective bureau, police said.
The driver was taken into custody after reportedly fleeing police and crashing her car into the Ulta store on Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, suspected of being drunk (Jeff Payne/MediaNews Group)
The total number of vehicle crashes in southeast Michigan dropped in 2024, even as fatalities from those crashes climbed, newly released data shows.
The statistics, compiled by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), indicate a need for increased focus on major contributing factors like lane departures, impaired driving and problematic intersections, SEMCOG officials said.
“The overall decline in crashes and continued reduction in speeding-related fatalities represent a meaningful win for safety in Southeast Michigan,” said Amy O’Leary, executive director of SEMCOG. “These gains reflect the dedication of our local, regional, state, and federal partners who work every day to make our roads safer.
“Still, the persistence of high-severity crashes reminds us that our work is far from done. Together, we remain committed to advancing and supporting a transportation system where no loss of life is acceptable,” O’Leary said.
According to SEMCOG’s Quick Facts report, there were 129,583 total crashes across the organization’s seven-county area last year. That’s a 1.4% decrease from 131,448 crashes in 2023 and below the 10-year average of 133,511 crashes per year. It also marked the first decline in total crashes across the region since 2020.
However, there were 402 fatalities on Southeast Michigan’s roadways last year, 14 more than in 2023 and the fifth-highest yearly total in the past decade, according to SEMCOG’s findings.
The data also shows that while serious injuries from crashes were down 3% in 2024 (2,211 compared to 2,276 in 2023), that figure is the third-highest in the past 10 years.
In analyzing data regarding contributing factors, SEMCOG identified lane departures, impaired driving and intersections among the top causes for fatal and serious injury crashes.
There were 723 collisions resulting in either death or severe injury last year in which lane departure was a factor. About 39% of fatal crashes and 26% of serious injury crashes in southeast Michigan in 2024 involved drivers drifting from their marked lane.
Crashes that involved driver impairment decreased overall in 2024, hitting a 10-year low of 3,918. However, SEMCOG reported, impairment was still a top factor in traffic deaths, accounting for 36% of traffic fatalities.
The organization reported that there were 397 serious injuries and 145 fatalities linked to driver impairment last year, representing slight increases from 2023 (395 injuries and 141 deaths).
Grievous crashes at intersections across southeast Michigan jumped notably in 2024, the report found. There were 125 deaths in vehicle crashes at intersections (31% of all traffic fatalities), which was the first increase in fatal crashes at intersections since 2020, SEMCOG’s data shows. There were also 912 serious injuries in crashes at intersections (41% of all such crashes), which marks a 10-year high.
SEMCOG data shows that the most dangerous intersections in southeast Michigan last year were Drahner and Lapeer roads in Oxford Township as well as Metropolitan Parkway and Utica Road in Clinton Township. Both those locations were the site of seven fatal or serious injury crashes.
There was only one such crash at Greenfield and Plymouth roads in Detroit, but that intersection continues to have the highest rate of injury/fatal crashes over the past five years (2.8 per year), according to SEMCOG.
Other notable findings from the SEMCOG report:
2024 was a particularly deadly year for motorcyclists with 71 fatalities, a 25% jump from 57 in 2024 and the highest total since 2015.
Total crashes involving pedestrians dropped to 1,180 in 2024 from 1,216 in 2023, the first decrease in that statistic in four years. Some 78 pedestrians died in crashes last year in southeast Michigan, down from 97 in 2023 and the second-lowest total in the past decade.
Speeding decreased as a factor in fatal and serious injury crashes for the third straight year. There were 392 such crashes in 2021, 365 in 2022, 322 in 2021 and 300 in 2024.
Crashes involving bicyclists increased for the third straight year (875 total in 2024) but bicyclist fatalities (seven) dropped to the lowest rate since 2021.
A 69-year-old White Lake Township man was killed late Wednesday on Highland Road after being struck by a car driven by an 81-year-old man from Holly, officials said.
According to the White Lake Police Department, preliminary results of an ongoing investigation indicate the man was attempting to cross Highland Road near Legrand Boulevard when he was struck by the vehicle headed east on Highland Road. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident, police said.
Officers called to the scene at around 11:18 p.m. found the victim unresponsive and lying in the roadway, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police haven’t yet released the victim’s name.
Anyone with further information related to the crash is asked to contact White Lake Police Sgt. Brad Connell by phone at 248-698-4400 or by email at bconnelll@whitelakepolice.com.
This is the fourth fatality reported on Oakland County roadways in the past two days. On Wednesday morning, a Detroiter was killed after crashing his car in Bloomfield Township. Police suspect a medical emergency prior to or during the crash. And on Tuesday morning, a fiery crash on I-96 in Novi claimed the lives of two drivers — one from Westland and the other from California.
It’s fall cleaning time for Oakland County’s roads and hundreds of people have volunteered to help.
The final Adopt-A-Road cleanup is Sept. 20 through Sept. 28.
So far this year, 381 organizations have sent volunteers to pick up litter and other debris along the county’s 598 miles of roads.
Road Commission Chairman Eric McPherson said he’s incredibly grateful for the volunteers’ deduction and asked drivers to keep them safe.
Volunteers will wear orange safety vests for better visibility and carry garbage bags while cleaning. Road commission signs will be posted at both ends of the designated road sections.
The road commission relies on groups to manage their need for more garbage bags or vests by calling the permits division groups needing additional garbage bags or safety vests can call the Permits Division at (248) 858-4891.
To learn more about Adopt-A-road, including volunteering for the final 2025 session, visit http://www.rcocweb.org/218/Adopt-A-Road or email adoptaroad@rcoc.org.
Road Commission for Oakland County's Waterford Township offices in 2025. (Peg McNichol/MediaNews Group)
Lincoln Street is closed in both directions at I-696 in Southfield until mid-October for bridge work.
The detour is to go north to 11 Mile or south to 10 Mile and use either Southfield Road to the west or Greenfield Road to the east, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Lincoln Street closed early Monday, Sept. 15.
The bridge work is part of MDOT’s Restore the Reuther project. MDOT is in the final phase of the lengthy project, which involves rebuilding I-696 between Lahser and Dequindre roads.
Students in Michigan have returned to school and with that comes a need for drivers to stay on alert and aware of school buses cruising through communities picking up children and dropping them off.
“Traffic tends to spike during the first days of school as many parents opt to drive their children,” Adrienne Woodland, a spokesperson for AAA-The Auto Club Group said in a news release. “We advise adding 30 minutes to your morning commute. Drivers running late are more prone to speeding, which endangers lives.”
Motorists also need to be aware of Michigan’s laws requiring motorists to stop when approaching a school bus pulled over with its red lights flashing and STOP arm extended.
The only exception is on a divided highway with a raised divider, yet 20% of Michigan respondents in a survey by AAA admitted to driving around a school bus while its red lights were flashing, which could result in fines and fatalities. A similar survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) estimated nationwide there were more than 43.5 million illegal school bus passings during the 2022-2023 school year.
AAA provided this explanation of the laws in Michigan: “When it comes to a two lane street all drivers moving in either direction on a two-way street must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal and must remain stopped until the road is clear of children and the school bus stop arm is withdrawn.
“In the case of a multi-lane paved median all drivers moving in either direction must stop for a school bus displaying a stop signal and must remain stopped until the road is clear of children AND the school bus stop arm is withdrawn.
“Traffic approaching an oncoming school bus on a divided highway do not need to stop if there is a raised barrier such as a concrete divider or at least five feet of unpaved space separating the lanes of traffic. However, these motorists should slow down and watch for students loading or unloading from the bus.”
AAA offers drivers these tips for school zone safety:• Avoid distractions• Remain focused on the road. No texting, eating or multitasking while driving.• Brake for safety• Slow down and stay alert. School zones are unpredictable, so be ready to stop at a moment’s notice.• Keep a watchful eye on pedestrians and bicyclists• Be aware of school zone signs, crossing guards, AAA School Safety Patrollers, and anyone walking or biking. Always yield and drive cautiously.
Other survey stats:• 46% admitted to speeding in an active school zone.• 33% admitted to using their hand-held cell phone while driving in active school zones.
Nationwide, nearly one out of every five children (age 14 and under) killed in traffic crashes are pedestrians, however, safety experts say distracted walking can be just as dangerous as distracted driving.
“Now is the time to talk to your children about traffic safety,” Woodland said. “Discourage students from wearing earbuds or looking down at digital devices while standing at the bus stop or walking near traffic. Otherwise, they may not hear an approaching vehicle.”
• Stay alert and be aware of your surroundings and avoid using headphones or looking down at your phone when near traffic.• Use sidewalks where available. If not, walk against the direction of traffic so you can see oncoming vehicles.• Make yourself easier to be seen by wearing reflective, bright colored clothing.• Make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street to make sure the vehicle is stopping.
For bicyclists and those using scooters
• Always wear a helmet.• Ride with traffic and use bike lanes when you can.• Do not wear headphones so you can detect approaching traffic.• Cross streets at intersections- not from between parked cars.
For students riding the bus
• Arrive at least 5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.• Stand five steps away from the curb.• Wait for the bus to stop completely and for the bus driver’s signal before boarding.
Despite the law, 20% of Michigan respondents in a survey by AAA admitted to driving around a school bus while its red lights were flashing. MACCOMB DAILY FILE PHOTO)
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