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 on Tuesday, noting that those facts are still under investigation.
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, police said.
Both adults were 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 the embankment where emergency vehicles were waiting.
The 2-year-old girl was injured with a fractured femur, while the 4-year-old boy suffered a laceration to his forehead. Both children have been cleared for release from the hospital, police said. The mother remains hospitalized in critical condition and the father is currently listed in stable condition.
The incident was first reported to police by the 63-year-old victim’s brother, who reportedly was able to locate the crash site through a shared phone app after being notified 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.