Auburn Hills police: City worker on leave after crashing front end loader into Jeep, killing other driver

47-year-old woman killed Thursday morning due to crash

Helicopter photo from the scene of a car crash on Brown Road in Auburn Hills on March 3, 2022 (WDIV)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – A city employee has been placed on paid administrative leave after crashing into a Jeep Thursday morning, killing the driver of the Jeep in Auburn Hills, police said.

At about 6:03 a.m. Thursday, a 47-year-old woman was driving on Brown Road, just west of Giddings Road, when she was struck by a Caterpillar front end loader, officials said. The woman, a Lake Orion resident, was reportedly unresponsive and declared dead at the scene.

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Video from the scene showed the woman’s vehicle, a 2021 Jeep Wrangler, completely totaled from the crash. The vehicle had ended up on the lawn of a business nearby.

Auburn Hills police say the front end loader was being operated by a 42-year-old man who works for the city. The man was reportedly pulling out of the city’s department of public works property and onto eastbound Brown Road when he collided with the Jeep.

Police had originally reported that the driver of the Jeep Wrangler struck the front end loader, and not the other way around.

City police say the man was not injured in the crash and has been cooperating with authorities during their investigation.

Officials say that neither alcohol nor drugs appear to be factors in the crash. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Auburn Hills police at 248-370-9460.

Brown Road was closed Thursday morning between Giddings Road and Continental Drive.

No other details have been provided at this time.


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