Sheriff's Department looks into cause of series of crashes

Van Buren County, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) Sheriff's Deputies say 58-year-old Everett Painter died after crashing into several vehicles and a house.

It all started on M-43 near 23rd Street when Painter struck an ambulance and sped off.

Officials say he continued down M-43- hitting 2 more cars along the way. Painter got to 30th Street- hit a 4th car and went airborne- rolling end over end- hitting a garage and landing up against a home there.

"I heard a bunch of metal crashing, knew it was a car accident," said Michele Parish, whose home Painter crashed into.

Looking at the remnants of the accident Parish is still in shock over what happened in her yard Monday night.

"The front bumper was right there, back there and he was upside down," said Parish.

The off duty EMT says she sprung into action- trying to save Painter's life, but it was too late.

"Trying to keep him at least breathing and a pulse on him."

What caused Painter's car to spin out of control is still unknown, but the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department says they are looking into a number of causes.

"We don't know why, we don't know why he hit 4 prior vehicles and then continued on, we don't know if he had been drinking," said Sgt. Wayne Polomcak.

Painter's father say his son was having acceleration issues with his 1995 Saturn leading up to the crashes, something the sheriff's department could not confirm.

"Thats the first I've heard of it- I don't know anything about it, its a possibility," said Sgt. Polomcak.

While the investigation continues Parish says she's counting her blessings. "If he would have hit differently he would have hit my kitchen area."

Officials are trying to determine just how fast Painter was going at the time of the crash, they are also waiting on toxicology and autopsy results before determining a cause of the accident.