The driver who crashed his tandem-trailer semi through two vehicles, brick wall, and downtown building, identified by Oakland County Sheriff’s Office as a 52-year-old Oxford man, gives the “OK” sign to bystanders after being extricated from his crushed truck. Photo by Brenda Dominick

BY BRENDA DOMINICK
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Angie Brennan and fellow employees had seconds to react when they saw a double-tandem gravel hauler bearing down on their Main Street dental office.
“We were out front in the reception area and we had this big window – we saw the truck coming and I yelled ‘run,’” said Brennan, office manager at Clarkston Village Dental.
The truck struck two vehicles and smashed through a brick wall before plowing into the downtown building at 55 S. Main Street at 1:17 p.m., last Friday, April 20.
“We ran as far as we could and then the truck just kind of stopped, like, two feet in front of us,” Brennan said. “It was crazy. Just crazy. I feel like my brother Ronnie was watching over me.”
Dr. Kamini Kapoor, DDS MS, was treating a patient in an examination room towards the back.
“I was tying the last stitch when it happened,” Dr. Kapoor said.
Members of Clarkston Area Optimist Club and city workers were installing playground equipment in Depot Park directly behind the dental office when the crash occurred.
“It was noisy as hell,” said Optimist Jim Evans.
“It was a big boom,” said Eric Haven of Friends of Depot Park, also a City Council member.
For Optimist Tom Lowrie, with more than 30 years in the landscape business, it sounded like an enormous dump truck dropping its whole load of boulders.
“But it kept going on and on, for 30 to 40 seconds,” Lowrie said.
The group ran up the hill into the stricken building to check for casualties.
“We ran into the office and the truck was still running. We yelled, ‘is there anyone in here,’ and no one responded. I’m glad no one seemed injured,” Lowrie said. “We could smell the gas. There was no desk anymore, just a pile of bricks. We looked for people in the rubble. We looked in all the offices but we didn’t see anybody.”
“You want to see if you can help,” Haven said. “There were bricks all around. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
The driver, still in the truck, didn’t respond to their shouts and seemed unconscious, Lowrie said.
“When police and fire showed up, we said, ‘let’s go back and leave it to the pros,’” he said.
First responders started showing up in under a minute, Evans said.
“The fire department and police did an excellent job,” he said.
With a half day of school for Clarkston students and nice weather that day, downtown was busy with pedestrians. However, no one was seriously injured in the crash, said Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Perry.
“We’re very fortunate not to have serious injuries, with that time of day and the number of people in the dentists’ office,” said Perry, Independence Township substation commander, at the April 23 City Council meeting. “It’s not something you’d ever think would ever happen in town like this.”
“It’s a miracle (no one was killed),” said City Manager Jonathan Smith, who ran up to the scene with the Optimists, along with DPW Director Mike Speagle.
“That’s probably very heroic in and of itself – above and beyond doesn’t even begin to describe them,” said Mayor Steven Percival. “They also worked the rest of day and into the evening. We’re very lucky to have Jonathan and Mike. They never stand in the background, always out front to help when needed.”
“You get to see how a community comes together when there a great test of adversity,” Perry said. “I’m proud of my people, the fire department, everyone who assisted us in that situation.”

The crash destroyed much of the dentists’ building, which was renovated and expanded by 1,500 square feet in 2015.
“The whole lower area is gone, we’re going to have to demolish it,” Brennan said. “So, now we’re just waiting for the engineer to come out to see if the structure’s damaged from the back, if we’re allowed to keep that or knock it all down.”
Matthew Spring, a tenant in the Sutherland House, 59 S. Main Street next door, was standing outside when the truck came barreling through.
“He missed me by less than 15 yards,” Spring said (see “Eyewitness” on page 7).
About 20 minutes after the crash, Smith spoke to a woman who said she had an appointment at the dental office and was running late.
“She would have been in there if she had been on time,” he said.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Crash Reconstruction Unit, the truck driver, a 52-year-old Oxford man, was northbound on Main Street in a 2011 Volvo tractor with two trailers partially filled with dirt when he ran a red light at Waldon Road.
The truck, from Bell Site Development of Waterford, then went left of center to avoid colliding with traffic from Waldon Road that had the green light, and struck a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer stopped at the red light facing south on Main Street. The Trailblazer was driven by a 49-year-old Ortonville resident. A 2000 Buick Century, driven by a 38-year-old Waterford man, was behind the Trailblazer when it was struck by the semi and was also damaged in the crash.
After the semi hit the Trailblazer, it continued left of center, drove off the roadway and ran into the south side of the dental office. The building to its south, 59 S. Main, also received minor damage and the brick wall in front was destroyed.
“It was completely out of control,” said Clarkston resident Carolyn Frerlickz, who was driving southbound on Main Street with her sister visiting from California. “He had a red light, but he was doing, my estimation would be 50 mph, and just absolutely flying – he was heading straight towards our car.”
Frerlickz made a sharp left turn and narrowly avoided the rogue truck.
“I saw these cars that were like flying around like bowling pins – my first thought was, ‘oh my gosh, this is something out of a movie,’” she said.
The truck driver was trapped in the crushed vehicle and debris but was extricated by Independence Township firefighters.
He sustained minor injuries and refused to be transported to the hospital. He was cited for disregarding a traffic signal and released at the scene.
All occupants of the Buick and the Chevrolet suffered minor injuries in the crash and refused transport to the hospital. The Chevrolet had a 53-year-old Holly resident as a front seat passenger. All were wearing seatbelts and there was no airbag deployment in any of the vehicles, according to the sheriff’s office.
Prior to the crash, the sheriff’s 911 Operations Center received two calls about a semi travelling north on M-15, drifting left of center. The callers had different descriptions of the vehicle, neither of which matched the description of the responsible vehicle in this crash.
The responsible driver denied drug or alcohol use, and he did not appear under the influence. A preliminary breath test was administered with a result of zero for alcohol or drugs.
“We’re waiting on results to come back about a possible medical condition,” Perry said. “We’re still looking at interviewing people and for results to come back. We’re looking at some different things might have happened – there are no conclusions at this time.”
Main Street was closed until the evening as investigators and Byers wreckers cleared the scene. Main Street is part of M-15, a state route, but city administration will meet with MDOT about limiting trucks through downtown, Smith said.
“We’ll look into it, at least the tandems,” he said.
“Absolutely, it never hurts to ask the questions,” said City Council member Jason Kneisc at their April 23 meeting.
– Phil Custodio contributed to this report