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State police work to determine who was at fault in fatal accident involving 2 Dearborn Heights cops

Posted at 6:30 PM, Jan 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-12 12:41:20-05

There are new developments in a crash that killed the driver of a car hit by two Dearborn Heights police officers earlier this month.

The case is under investigation by Michigan State Police and serious questions need to be answered, including who’s at fault.

This is a criminal investigation that will focus on whether the police or the driver did anything that caused the crash - running a light, distracted driving - or is it just an accident?

The evidence is, two Dearborn Heights officers, riding in a Ford Explorer, did a U-turn and were catching up with a driver for a traffic stop.

They t-boned a Lexus.

Witnesses have told police they were not using their lights and siren.

The black boxes, recording speed and direction, and the police dashcam video are part of the investigation.

The driver of the car is now identified as 59-year-old Timothy Turner of Wixom.

He died over the weekend and we are told his organs donated.

The two officers had to be pulled from their vehicle and were also injured.

One had broken bones in his hand. The other had a lacerated kidney.

They remain on medical leave.

The investigation will try to determine if either driver did anything wrong.

Once the state police investigation is done, it will go to the Wayne County Prosecutor for review.

Lt. Mike Shaw says the investigation is about one third of the way finished, so it could be days, maybe weeks.