Man Killed While Helping Friend on I-94, Police Searching For Hit-and-Run Semi-truck
by Jana Ritter - Published: 1/27/2017Authorities are asking for your help in tracking down a semi-truck driver that fatally struck a Good Samaritan who was helping a friend that got stranded on eastbound I-94 in Michigan. The victim has been identified as 49-year-old Todd George Hodgkinson of Battle Creek. He had been standing on the side of the road, putting gas in his friend's stranded vehicle when the semi-truck hit him and then dragged him 100 yards before fleeing the scene.
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The incident happened early Friday morning around 2:45 a.m. near Galesburg, Michigan on I-94 near mile marker 88. A female motorist and a male passenger were heading eastbound when they ran out of gas and pulled over to the right side of the road along the fog line (the solid white lane marker.) The woman then called her friend for help. He answered the call and was kind enough to assist them by bringing gas out to them on the highway in the wee hours of the morning.
According to Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas, the woman told authorities that she was standing with Hodgkinson out on the road while he took over the job of pouring gas into the tank. They then both saw a semi approaching and noticed it was hugging the fog line. The woman told officers that the last thing she remembers was her friend saying, "That semi is awfully close." Her immediate reaction to dive into the ditch saved her life but Hodgkinson wasn’t so lucky. He was struck down as the semi-truck clipped the car, knocking off its mirror and gas tank door.
“While he was pouring the gas into the vehicle they both realized that a semi, also eastbound, was pretty close to that fog line. The girl jumped out of the way into the ditch, but the semi hit him and dragged him about 100 yards and he was pretty much killed instantly,” said Matyas. The semi driver did not stop after the collision, and authorities have been looking for him ever since. The man and woman from the stranded vehicle were not seriously injured, but they were both treated for shock and minor injuries.
The semi is described as a dark cab with a white trailer, with light damage to the passenger side from where it struck the victim and vehicle. “We want people to look out for this particular semi. It’s a very bad description, but mostly our message goes out to the other truck drivers. The truck drivers are the eyes and ears of the highways and we’re hoping that one of them may have heard something and some scuttlebutt about it in the trucker industry that might point us to a driver,” Matyas said.
Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or who has any other information is asked to contact police at 269-383-8821.
Not far from us! Sad he was helping someone else
Yep, that makes it even more tragic for sure.
There are people out there driving that don't have any business behind the wheel of a big truck. The guy might not have even felt the hit to the truck and if he didn't use his mirror he wouldn't know.
You right probably really have no idea.
He damn sure felt the hit. A couple of years back, a deer about the same size as a man darted out in front of me... //BAM!// He knew what he did, and his "self-preservation" ("hide my ass") instinct kicked in.
Maybe he did idk i wasn't there. i'm by no means trying to defend him
there are people out there who don't have any business on a Big Wheel, let's be honest.
Mike Sidman had a driver pull his trailer over my buddy's front tire, fender and hood and kept going. When they stopped him he said " I thought I might've felt something " smh
I had a similar experience with a deer, about 6hrs ago. Driving down a dark stretch of HWY 83 in North Dakota, i never saw the deer, but I damn sure felt the ever so slow impact of something hitting my truck. I stopped a couple miles later, and saw the blood up the side of the trailer, and remember the feeling of dread that I may have killed a person, and never even saw him/her. -I had never been so scared I'm my life. Anyway I did turn around and went back to discover it was a deer (Thankfully!!!!) Moral of the story is the guy knew he hit something/someone and CHOSE to ignore it.
You may be correct that he may not have felt it in the truck and may not have known at the time but as a driver he is required to do a pretrip inspection of his equipment before every shift and should have found the damage
I'd be willing to bet he saw, heard and felt the impact.
Here's the problem I have with all this period.. Move over to the left lane when there are vehicles on the shoulder occupied or not cuz you never know.. If there are vehicles in that lane put the turn signal on an slowly push away from that vehicle on the shoulder.. If you been out here on these highways long enough you know to always look ahead to give yourself the ample time to react properly..
Yes I drive a commercial vehicle as well..
Maybe where it happened was dark and they didn't have emergency lights going on the vehicle. I would like to know right where it happened at. Does anyone know?
Okay it wasn't where I thought. I thought it was in the west bound lane east of Lansing.
I have been driving for over 20 years and I always do my best to move over but we all know there are times that you have no other choice but to stay in the right lane . But I will say even when this happens you can't put a finger between me and the car beside me
Exactly what I do and if i cant get over ill slow that lane of traffic down with left turn signal on and more or less try and force my way over to give the disabled vehical room like ya said you never know if its occupied
I think it is a game to some of these dricers. See how close you can get to the vehicle on the shoulder of the road. I'v lost track of home many times that I have broke down on the side of the road, and have drivers zip right on by. Once when I drove for Werner, was on the shoulder, another Werner truck came on by, took the mirror off the truck. Got back at yard, they fired that driver. Safety director was right behind him. Popped him for wreckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Oh my.
It probably some foreigner That didn't have a CDL license driving
Don't know if you were just being candid but what you speak is reality. I've known a couple who admitted to drivin for years before obtaining a CDL, one of which was an old boss of mine. Armenian if it matters
No I was being real I'm a CDL DRIVER and there a lot of Foreigners driving that has no license that drive for a foreigner that owns a couple trucks
There are many out there hauling out of the NYC boat yards
So you are saying only foreigners drive without a license? You people are so judgmental
You can't find to say something, and immediately --- foreigners without CDL... How about ,just anybody who doesn't pay attention! could have done it.... Stop stirring shit...
Not sure there are compentent police in this state. Simply go thru the DOT ROADSIDE CAMERA SYSTEM that records in a loop and is saved at their office. Check time of reported incident.... follow cameras along highway until you get a good look at the truck and you have it. I would suggest the next exit or rest area for a starting point as he most likely wanted to get parked asap to hide himself.... that is if he wasn't sleeping and didn't even notice and just woke up thinking he was on rumble strip. But the damage will not be something that could be hidden too easily from a legit company. Also there are cameras at every scale crossing ... check the East Bound NEW BUFFALO weigh station cameras and pre pass at about 1:30 am to find trucks matching the description... they can give you a ticket when you pass those cameras if they check your dot number and you have been thru there many times same day and are out of hours... They can sure as fuck go look for a hit and run driver.
Bad thing to happen all around, horrible for the guys family. I've seen lots of people not get all the way out of the right lane or stopped right on the white line sitting in the lane changing a tire, just around a curve or over the crest of a hill or in the dark. You should always be alert on the road driving or changing a tire and always paying the most attention to traffic in motion. Always best to just move around the vehicle away from the lane of traffic if a truck is coming along, take the extra few minutes to change the tire, better to be alive than right.
I've hit deer in truck and not noticed till the wobble from low tire. Pulled over to find the antlers in tire. It's possible he didn't realize. Safe journeys y'all
Then your not keeping your eyes moving. No way could you hit a car and a person and not know sorry
Sue Domenico in correct if you clip them with the trailer you most likely wouldn't feel it same with the mirror. Driver should have merge left but did not he will get his judgment eventually whether they catch him or not.
I hit a pot hole and I know it. I call bullshit on anyone ever saying they didn't feel hitting something or someone.
This is one GOOD REASON why you shouldn't croud tge fog line, yet alone dont be on your phone while driven a 4 wheeler or truck. RIP friend helping another friend
If this rig was headed for Ontario, better get a hold of the RMPC Canadian authorities, the probably is some DNA evidence on the truck somewhere, even if he had it washed.....this driver is up for life in prison if and when they catch him.....
If you can't move over then slow down and why was he hugging the white line :( we have been broke down on our Semi and isn't dark in color and 85% of the semi's/drivers won't move over or even slow down when they can't get over...
To answer your question about why he was hugging the white line, I'll give you two two reasons. 1- on many interstates, especially in Michigan and other northern stated, the area of the highways where the tires usually run is the most rutted, and potholes and thus roughest part of the road. The white line is usually smoother and allows easier control of the truck. 2- running the white line allows the maximum amount of room between the left side of the truck and the rest of the motoring public. And, especially the way other trucks AND 4 wheelers drive with more attention on the phone, dash, radio, etc then the job at hand, riding the white line has saved me from numerous fender benders. Thay being said, riding the white line means you have to be more attentive to what's ahead, especially on the shoulder. And never, never ride on the shoulder.
I was in Iowa once at about eleven at night I was running low on fuel and saw a place thing is there was a median so had to go up the road to turn around I put on my signal and made my turn when I did a u turn in the parking lot I noticed a car on the road that had been in a wreck, witnesses said she slammed into my trailer at 40 mph, I never felt a thing not a bump a slam, didn't even hear it hit my trailer, she was 82 and coming home from bingo, she was also night blind they told me, so no one can tell me you hear or feel everything with a semi
Just look for the driver pulled in at the truck stop with his nose in
The trucker had to have known he hit something if he took off the mirror too.
The article appears to be wrong! I would say the truck never touched the vehicle, the man's body did, after being hit by the truck.
You would still feel it
Sue Domenico not if he was hit by the trailer. I wonder if this person was from Canada heading east.
Dark cab with a white trailer. Gee, that narrows it down, to almost all of them!
That in itself is why one don't tailgate but idiots can't understand that
not enough details, many people hit deer in many places, some dark cabs might have some kind of damage, by this time that truck could be over 1000 miles away
Well he might be here working on a work permit so he's not coming forward that's wrong
Welcome to the ME generation. There's no more courtesy or common sense anymore on the road
The thing is if can't get over slow the funk down you are incontrol
Probably an illigetmate parasite that shouldn't be driving in America anyways
Eric Williams.... Really..... Is that all you can come up with ???
This is why you are supposed to move to left lane hope driver is caught
Let's find this guy and put him away prayers to the victims family
this is Bullshit site 6 trys and didn't get to read story ad kept popping up
Sounds like a Canadian driver
Not standing up for the driver but if he clipped with the trailer probably didn't even notice it.
It knocked his mirror and fuel tank door off.
James R Maxwell no it knocked the fuel door and mirror odd the car. But he knew he hit something. As a driver if you hot anything bigger than a rabbit they certainly know it.
Adam Mizell, I believe you are wrong. The truck never touched the vehicle, the man's body did the damage to the vehicle after be thrown by the truck!
You would still feel it
Bullshit,no possible way the driver didn't know or feel it
I ran over a rabbit with my drive tires and I felt it so unless this guy was brain dead, he or she, knew what they did, but I hate to say this as I am Canadian, but I won't be suprised if it was one of our new Canadians that was headed for the border
https://youtu.be/Z61gDjlMcBk For those saying bs on hitting and not knowing.
Before ya'll Rush to judgement, I'd like to know what the status of the roadway is at that location. If the road was potholes or rutted in the right lane like so many northern state roads are this time of year, he may have been running the line to avoid the potholes. And this may also account for not feeling the impact, especially if it's a glancing swipe. That being said, if the 4 wheelers had its flashers and lights on, there is no way, , NO WAY! the guy didn't know there was a vehicle there, and he then had no business being near the right side white line. Whether or not anyone was standing there. I've seen too many r/s doors 'pop' open when a 4wheeler (and truck) driver opens the door without first checking traffic.
Ron I agree with you but if he was following behind another driver who didn't move over or moved over just enough to avoid hitting them the second driver may not have seen them beside the road. But that's what I wondered was how dark it was, was there lights on the vehicle, etc.
Victor Collins. They looking for a blue Pete that says Holman trucking#1282
Right where I work. :(
Change a tire and lose your life.. very sad indeed
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Prayers
Omg, so very sad!
This Victor guy sure is defending the driver...
Shared
How sad. May he RIP.
Probably on his smartphone
More info on please like = agree
Prayers for the family, so Sad