SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Police in Southfield shared more details, including scene video, about the arduous rescue of two young children and their parents from a vehicle after it veered off the road and crashed into a steep embankment.
The single-vehicle crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, on Simmons Avenue near Berg Road. At a press conference on Tuesday, Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said preliminary investigations indicate that the family’s 2015 Ford Explorer crashed through a metal guardrail before coming to rest in a ravine roughly 30 feet below the roadway.
Bodycam video shared from the scene shows first responders struggling to descend the steep terrain leading toward the Rouge River before reaching the crashed vehicle — where a 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl were found unsecured in the back seat. A female officer was able to climb through a broken window in the back seat to remove the children, who were both conscious but injured.
“Although safety child seats were found inside the vehicle, it is unknown whether the children had been properly restrained before the crash; or if they were ejected from their car seats during the collision, or removed themselves from the car seats afterwards,” Barren said, noting that those facts are still under investigation.
The 2-year-old girl fractured her femur in the crash, while the 4-year-old suffered a laceration on his forehead. Both children have been cleared for release from the hospital, police said.
The driver — a 39-year-old Southfield woman who police said does not have a valid Michigan driver’s license — and her 63-year-old husband, were both unresponsive in the driver’s seat and front passenger seat when emergency personnel arrived.
Both had to be extricated from the SUV via the Jaws of Life by the Fire Department’s Technical Rescue Team, which set up a “low-angle rope rescue system” to haul the occupants up to the top of the ravine where emergency vehicles were waiting.
Police say the mother is in critical condition and the father is listed in stable condition. However, neither have been able to speak with investigators yet.
At the press conference, Barren lauded first responders’ and the department’s quick action to bring the family to safety. He also mentioned that the incident was first reported to police by the 63-year-old victim’s brother, who was able to locate the crash site through a shared phone app after being contacted by the victim.
Factors leading up to the crash remain under investigation, however Barren said alcohol or drugs do not appear to be a factor.
View the full press conference, including video taken from the scene, below.
Warning: The below video contains partially blurred images of children that may be distressing to some. Viewer discretion is advised.