Police say a drunken driver with a blood-alcohol content more than four times the legal limit hit the vehicle of Oakland County Commissioner Mike Spisz (R-Oxford) on Nov. 19, then left the scene.
The crash happened on W. Drahner Rd., near S. Coats Rd., in Oxford.
Spisz was heading east in his 2013 Chrysler when he was sideswiped by a westbound 2000 Chevy driven by a heavily-intoxicated 38-year-old Troy man, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Spisz, whose two young daughters were in the vehicle at the time, was stationary when the crash occurred. He was stopped because there was a tree branch in the road and it was being flagged by an employee from the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC).
The commissioner said the suspect was stopped near the RCOC truck at the top of this ‘little hill.?
‘Everybody was waiting for him to (go) by because you couldn’t get (through),? he said. ‘It looks like he just took his foot off the brake, started down the hill, just missed the car in front of me, swideswiped me, bounced off and just kept going.?
Spisz estimated the suspect was traveling at a rate of 5-10 miles per hour when he hit. The commissioner’s vehicle sustained some damage, but neither he nor his daughters were injured.
‘I was able to drive it home since (my house is) only a mile from there, but I had to get it towed to the collision shop,? he said.
The crash was witnessed by a 48-year-old Commerce Township woman who works for the road commission.
Following the crash, the suspect allegedly fled the scene.
His vehicle was later found stopped on Baldwin Rd., just north of Seymour Lake Rd., with the suspect ‘slumped over the wheel,? according to the sheriff’s office.
?(He was) parked at probably about a 45-degree angle, half off the road, half on the road,? Spisz said.
Deputies reported the suspect was unable to perform any sobriety tests. A preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol content was 0.35 percent.
The legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent.
The suspect was taken to the McLaren Oakland hospital in Pontiac where a blood sample was taken. He was not injured.
The suspect was then transported to the Oakland County Jail. Warrants are being sought from the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, the suspect has three prior convictions.
He was convicted of carjacking in 1996, then in 2004, he was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) along with third-degree fleeing and eluding police.
Two days prior to the alleged hit-and-run with Spisz, the suspect was arrested on an OWI charge in Dryden.