Teacher dies after crash with suspected drunk driver

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – State Police are investigating a wrong-way crash that killed a man on Monday morning.

The northbound lanes of East Beltline in Grand Rapids were blocked for hours Monday morning after police say a drunk driver was heading south in the northbound lanes with his headlights off.

30-year-old Aaron Haynes was driving north when he was hit head-on. Haynes may have never known what he was coming, there's no evidence he ever hit the brakes.

East Beltline is a four-lane road with two lanes on each side, in most place it is a divided highway.

Haynes was driving to work when he was hit head-on and killed instantly at the hands of what could have been a drunk driver.

Haynes was a teacher at Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Greenville. He was on his way to work Monday morning when the crash occurred on the northbound side of East Beltline, past Five Mile Road, an area that's not very well lit.

Haynes' truck was hit head-on by a vehicle going the wrong way, and evidence suggests that driver did not have his headlights on.

Troopers had originally identified the driver as the owner of the vehicle, and while that mistake has been corrected, the Michigan State Police is not yet identifying the driver. Newschannel 3 has learned that the truck wasn't insured by the owner and was being driven by a friend of a friend.

Troopers say they found a picture ID of the driver from the State of Washington and also say they found numerous beer cans and liquor bottles in the truck as well.