PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage Department of Public Safety says a man who was killed in single vehicle accident on southbound US-131, just north of the I-94 interchange Thursday morning, may have experienced a medical emergency prior to the crash.
Around 7:55 a.m. responding officers located a pickup truck towing a trailer that had left the east side of the roadway and came to rest in the center median after traveling down an embankment. Their preliminary investigation determined the vehicle was traveling southbound on US-131 when the driver changed from the right lane into the left lane.
The driver then failed to negotiate a slight curve in the roadway, causing the vehicle to continue straight off the roadway. The truck struck several trees before coming to rest.
The driver and sole occupant was identified as 74-year-old Frederick Jon Gilbert of Comstock Park, Michigan.
Officers found Gilbert unresponsive inside the vehicle. After he was extricated, Portage Department of Public Safety firefighters immediately began lifesaving measures, including CPR. Gilbert was transported by LIFE EMS Ambulance to Bronson Methodist Hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased.
The exact cause of death and circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
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